Mareike Landmann

Development of a Scale to Assess the demand for specific competences in teachers after graduation from university

Universities in Germany show an increasing need for specific information on professional demands encountered and addressed by graduates training to become teachers. To provide information on demands and abilities in teaching graduates, a specialised teacher module was developed in the framework of the German Cooperation Project for Graduate Tracer Studies (KOAB, INCHER Kassel). The scale operationalises a model of teacher action based on guidelines published by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education (KMK 2004; 2000). To test validity of the 40-item-strong scale, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA, AMOS) was conducted. Analyses are based on a sample of 937 teachers in training who graduated from the universities of Cologne and Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, between 1 October 2007 and 30 September 2008. Overall, the results of the first analyses emphasise the scale’s potential to provide insight into the demands for which students should be prepared by their teaching studies.

Stark Berufstätige studieren weniger erfolgreich! Wie kommt das?

Seit der bundesweiten Offnung der Hochschulen fur die so genannten nicht-traditionellen Studierenden im Jahr 2009 (Brandle 2014) ist eine zunehmende Diversitat der Studierendenschaft und ein steigender Anteil stark berufstatiger Studierender zu beobachten (Middendorf et al. 2013; Teichler und Wolter 2004). Die Frage nach der Passung zwischen den Anforderungen durch das Studium und den Bedurfnissen der Studierenden, die mindestens ebenso viel Zeit fur ihre Berufstatigkeit aufwenden wie fur ihr Studium, wird vor diesem Hintergrund zunehmend bedeutsam.

Three Methods, Four Different Outcomes! How to Test the Reliability and Validity of a Graduate Survey Competence Scale

Abstract This chapter presents and discusses various steps to ensure empirical reliability and theoretical validity in the construction of competence scales in graduate surveys. The development of a scale to assess demands of the teacher profession and related abilities in graduates for a German tracer study project serves as an example. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), principal component analysis (PCA) and Cronbach’s coefficient alpha are employed to test the reliability of the scale. Differing results illustrate how the method applied influences decisions in the process of developing a scale. Our findings show that multidimensionality can only be tested appropriately by CFA; PCA renders no feasible or similar results to CFA depending on the predetermination of the number of factors; Cronbach’s alpha produces misleading results as the prerequisite assumption of unidimensionality is violated by the data.