Introduction

In adult education, it is widely assumed that teachers’ professional competences substantially contribute to teaching quality (Collins & Pratt, 2011). In this context, teachers’ pedagogical-psychological knowledge (PPK), as a central subdimension of teacher knowledge (Baumert & Kunter, 2011), has received increasing attention. Building on Shulman (1987), effective teaching is understood to require generic knowledge of pedagogical concepts, principles, and instructional strategies that are not tied to specific subject matter. Given the high diversity of course topics in adult education, this generic nature renders PPK particularly relevant and compared to teachers’ content knowledge, potentially more readily measurable.

PPK has been incorporated as a core competence into theoretical models of professional competence (Strauch et al., 2021), and initial empirical studies have investigated predictors of adult education teachers’ PPK (Marx et al., 2018) as well as its dimensionality (Marx et al., 2022). However, systematic evidence on both the level of teachers’ PPK and its relationship with key dimensions of teaching quality remains limited. This is largely attributable to the lack of a validated measurement instrument, as prior approaches focused on isolated facets of PPK (e.g., Marx et al., 2018). Given the heterogeneous educational backgrounds of adult education teachers in Germany (AutorInnengruppe wb-personalmonitor, 2016), which are likely to influence both PPK and teaching quality, there is a clear need for an appropriate measurement instrument.

In school-based research, a well-established and validated instrument for assessing teachers’ PPK exists. The instrument PUW – Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching (König & Blömeke, 2010) addresses five core instructional demands: dealing with heterogeneity, structuring instruction, classroom management, motivation, and assessment. Empirical studies have shown positive associations between PPK and teaching quality, commonly conceptualized along three quality dimensions – classroom management, cognitive activation, and student support (Klieme et al., 2009). While most studies report positive effects across dimensions (König & Pflanzl, 2016; König et al., 2021), findings for cognitive activation are mixed (Voss et al., 2014). Whether these relationships can be transferred to adult education remains unclear, as adult educators often enter the field through heterogeneous pathways in Germany and often acquire pedagogical competences informally or through experience.

Against this background, the present study examines the psychometric properties of an adapted PUW instrument for adult education (Aim a), the structure of PPK in this field (Aim b), and its predictive validity for teaching quality. In addition, we investigate whether professional experience moderates the relationship between PPK and teaching quality, assuming that experience influences how pedagogical knowledge is enacted in instructional practice. This assumption is particularly relevant in adult education, where experience often substitutes for formal pedagogical training (Aim c).

Instruments and sample Analysis is based on data from the second wave of the German TAEPS study (N = 1,416). For use in adult education, PUW items were linguistically and partly content-wise adapted, and open-ended items were converted into closed-ended formats. Teaching quality (α > .75) was assessed using scales from PISA and TALIS. Control variables included teaching experience (years), teaching hours/week, and the extent of pedagogical training. Analysis Methods We examined dimensionality, reliability, item difficulties, and intercorrelations between PUW dimensions (Aims a, b). Predictive validity (c) was assessed using regression models with teaching quality dimensions as outcomes and PUW subdimension sum scores as predictors, controlling for relevant variables. Moderation effects of experience were tested using structural equation modelling with a total PUW sum score. Results Aim a. The overall scale shows good internal consistency (α = .85). Factor loadings are mostly high for the PUW factor, except for some motivation items (λ = .02–.30, p > .05). Item difficulties are mainly in the medium range, indicating appropriate test difficulty. Solution probabilities are lower for heterogeneity (57%) and classroom management (51%) and higher for structuring (78%). Aim b. Intercorrelations between PUW dimensions are moderate (r = .28–.45). Structuring shows weaker, and classroom management stronger, correlations with the other dimensions. Aim c. Regression analyses on the subdimension level show that knowledge of classroom management predicts classroom management, β = .25, p < .01, and constructivist support, β = .24, p < .05. Knowledge of motivation predicts constructivist support only, β = .32, p < .01. Knowledge of structuring is positively associated with constructivist support, β = .33, p < .001 and cognitive activation, β = .42, p < .001. Yet, knowledge of heterogeneity shows a negative association with classroom management, β = -.16, p < .05. Structural equation models reveal a differentiated relationship between PPK and teaching quality, moderated by experience. The positive relation between PPK and classroom management (β = .25, p < .01) decreases with increasing experience (interaction β = −.53). Experience itself is the strongest predictor of classroom management (β = .67). For cognitive activation, PPK shows a small significant effect (β = .21, p < .001), while experience and the interaction are not significant. PPK shows a strong association with constructivist support (β = .30, p < .001); experience has a marginal additional effect (β = .29, p <.05), the interaction is not significant.

Conclusion Overall, the findings indicate that the adapted PUW instrument can be meaningfully applied in adult education, as it shows good psychometric properties and supports a multidimensional understanding of PPK, with related but distinct knowledge facets. This contributes to closing an important measurement gap and enables a more differentiated investigation of teachers’ professional competences in this field. At the same time, the findings highlight the context-specificity of adult education. While adult educators show comparatively strong knowledge in motivation and structuring, targeted professional development seems necessary to strengthen knowledge in classroom management and in dealing with heterogeneous learning groups. Given the diversity of learner backgrounds and learning settings in adult education, strengthening these knowledge domains appears particularly relevant for supporting high-quality teaching. Moreover, the findings suggest that different dimensions of PPK are differentially associated with teaching quality, indicating that higher levels of knowledge do not automatically translate into higher teaching quality across all dimensions. Instead, specific knowledge facets seem to be more closely linked to particular aspects of teaching quality. In particular, the negative association between knowledge of heterogeneity and classroom management warrants further investigation. Moreover, differentiated analysis shows that PPK is particularly relevant for support and to a lesser extent for cognitive activation, while classroom management is primarily driven by experience, with diminishing returns of knowledge at higher experience levels.

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