The fourth goal of the 'Agenda 2030' (United Nations, 2015) 'Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all' (p. 14) calls for unconditional equal opportunities for individual education in the sense of a broad concept of inclusion. Due to its multi-perspective orientation and its subject-specific basic education mandate, primary science education (Sachunterricht) is considered to have great potential for inclusive education (Schroeder & Miller, 2017). Against this backdrop, teachers face the challenge of implementing school inclusion in primary science education as well (Schroeder et al., 2023). To meet this didactic challenge, 'adaptive teaching competence' is considered a key skill (Parsons et al., 2018; Schroeder et al., 2023). Adaptive teaching competence refers to teachers' ability to align instruction with individual learning prerequisites (Brühwiler, 2017). Based on the review by Gallagher et al. (2022, pp. 298-315), adaptive teaching competence is understood as a mediating ability (reflection) between a stimulus and the visible adaptive performance (Blömeke et al., 2015). This corresponds to Hattie's (2012) understanding of an adaptive teacher: 'Teachers are adaptive learning experts who know where students are on the continuum from novice to capable to proficient, when students are and are not learning, and where to go next, and who can create a classroom climate to attain these learning goals' (p. 99). In the context of this research, adaptive teaching competence is located and operationalised at the level of professional vision. Professional vision is operationalised as comprising two sub-dimensions: 'noticing' and 'reasoned decision-making' (Weyers et al., 2023, p. 10). Since the study is conducted in the context of primary science education didactics, 'reasoned decision-making' is operationalised through the constructs of 'scaffolding' and 'classroom management', which are well-researched in primary science education (Gippert et al., 2022; Kleickmann, 2012; Lehmkuhl et al., 2022). However, measuring adaptive teaching competence remains an open challenge in inclusion-oriented primary science education (Beck et al., 2008, pp. 10-11). Existing studies on the assessment of adaptive teaching competence in (prospective) teachers employ a variety of different methodological approaches: vignette tests (e.g. Beck et al., 2008; Schmitz, 2023), video recordings of the test subjects (Kufner, 2017) and evaluation of lesson planning (Rey, 2022). They focus on different content areas regarding different (sub)dimensions (adaptive teaching competence, adaptive action competence, adaptive planning competence). In addition, the composition of the population is very heterogeneous across the different studies. To date, no study has operationalised and measured adaptive action competence in prospective science teachers in inclusive primary schools through the lens of professional vision. The aim of this dissertation project is to develop a valid measurement scale for the standardised measurement of adaptive action competence as a fundamental component of the adaptive teaching competence of prospective primary teachers in inclusion-oriented primary science education. With the help of a video-based measurement scale, this study tests a method for objectively, reliably and validly assessing the adaptive competence of prospective primary teachers in inclusion-oriented primary science education. To this end, approximately N = 100 students are surveyed, and an expert validation (N = 12) is carried out. Using a partial credit model in line with item response theory, the applicability and quality of the measurement scale will be examined using item- and model-fit indices.

As part of the doctoral project, a measurement scale is being developed that uses videos from science lessons in primary schools with inclusive education (video material: DiPoSa project). A total of three video sequences, each 1-4 minutes long, on the teaching topics of programming, magnetism and fire are included in the online questionnaire used in the cross-sectional survey. Prospective primary school teachers (n1 = approximately 50) and special education teachers (n2 = approximately 50) with a major in primary science education were surveyed. The questionnaire is structured in two sections. The first section addresses the higher-level skill areas that are relevant at the level of ‘noticing,’ while the second section examines the skill areas at the level of ‘reasoned decision-making.’ This two-part structure is repeated for each of the three videos. In the first section, the participants are asked to watch the respective video once and click when they notice sequences that they consider relevant for adaptive teaching and in which they would intervene. A time marker is recorded for each click and later checked against predefined time windows containing theoretically specified key situations. In the second part of the questionnaire, screenshots appear after each video with descriptions of one of these key situations and corresponding expert-rated model solutions. For each sub-dimension of the constructs ‘scaffolding’ and ‘classroom management’ that are theoretically relevant to this situation, three items appear, from which the participants are asked to select one item as the most appropriate response. The theoretically assumed ranking of the items was previously validated and revised through an expert survey (approximately N = 12). Items were rated on a three-point Likert-type scale (0 = not appropriate, 1 = appropriate to some extent, 2 = highly appropriate). Expert validation is intended to ensure that the answers are indeed meaningful in terms of reasoned decision-making and have been ranked in the correct order. Based on this expert validation and the use of teaching videos from real-life primary science education lessons, this measurement scale is considered to have high ecological validity. In order to evaluate the quality and applicability of the measurement scale used, polytomous item response theory models (Partial Credit) will be applied. Specifically, quality criteria such as item difficulty, discriminatory power, fit and DIF are examined in order to establish evidence of model fit.

Based on theoretical frameworks of professional vision and adaptive teaching competence, specific findings are anticipated. First, regarding the 'noticing' dimension, the temporal marker analysis is expected to reveal varying levels of recognition among prospective teachers. Drawing on Professional Vision literature (e. g. Sherin & van Es, 2024), it is anticipated that students will demonstrate differential sensitivity to theoretically defined key situations in primary science education lessons. Prospective special education teachers may show comparable or potentially higher noticing accuracy compared to primary education students, given their training focus on individual learning needs. Second, for the 'reasoned decision-making' dimension operationalised through scaffolding and classroom management constructs, polytomous IRT analysis is expected to reveal differential item difficulty patterns. Based on empirical evidence from teacher competence research (Kleickmann, 2012; Parsons et al., 2018), scaffolding items are anticipated to demonstrate higher difficulty values than classroom management items, reflecting the cognitive complexity of adaptive pedagogical reasoning. Additionally, differential item functioning (DIF) analysis may reveal systematic performance differences between study groups, with prior teaching experience potentially conferring advantages in decision-making tasks. Should the measurement scale demonstrate adequate item fit and reliable person separation, this would provide evidence for the scale's validity as a video-based assessment tool for adaptive action competence in inclusive primary science education. This will represent the first standardised German-language scale to combine noticing and reasoned decision-making for measuring adaptive action competence among prospective science education teachers in inclusion-oriented primary schools. Such an scale supports the identification of competence development trajectories, informs targeted professional development interventions, and contributes to evidence-based teacher preparation in inclusive contexts.

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