Assessing the Selection of Digital Learning Material: A Facet of Pre-Service Teachers’ Digital Competence

Given the increasing digitalization of education and the variety of available digital learning materials (dLMs) of differing quality, (pre-service) teachers must develop the ability to select appropriate dLMs for their learning goals. Therefore, educational institutions should provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to cultivate this ability. Objective, reliable, and valid assessment instruments based on established models in teacher education are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of its development. This paper conceptualized items for assessing „selecting dLM” using a four-item straight-forward yet effective and economical approach based on a model of teachers’ digital competence and the TPACK framework. The scientific quality of the method was evaluated in study 1 (n = 164) and tested in a subsequent second, large-scale study (n = 395) with pre-service mathematics teachers from two universities. The empirical results indicate that the method could objectively and reliably gauge different levels of „selecting dLM” as one facet of digital competence. Furthermore, the findings obtained with the items yield small but different diagnostic results compared to a TPACK self-report instrument. The proposed approach allows for variations and integration of diverse dLMs and has the potential to be adapted in other subject areas and contexts.