Developing a questionnaire for measuring epistemological beliefs in history education

Developing pupils’ understanding of history with its own disciplinary and epistemological problems can contribute to the education of a critical and peaceful diverse society. This symposium discusses results of four studies from the Netherlands, Germany and the USA addressing theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical issues in measuring epistemological beliefs in history. Two studies aim to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire for measuring epistemological beliefs in the domain of history in Europe. One study focuses on the historical topics history teachers use to teach that history involves interpretation and one study explores change in epistemic beliefs among history teachers in the USA during a professional development project. The symposium compares weaknesses and strengths in the use of questionnaires versus interviews.