Martin Nitsche

FHNW, Center for Citizenship and History Education, Post-Doc

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Martin Nitsche, Dr. phil., is a senior researcher at the Center for Citizenship and History Education in Aarau at the School of Education, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. He was a visiting scholar at McGill University Montreal in the summer of 2023 and an interim professor of history didactics at the University of Cologne in the summer of 2022. His research interests include history teacher professionalization, history assessment, and teaching materials.

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Papers by Martin Nitsche

A review of research on the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of history teachers in German-speaking countries: A plea for an integrated approach

Panta Rei. Digital Journal of History and Didactics of History, 2026

This paper argues for an integrative approach to research on history teachers’ PCK, based on stud... more This paper argues for an integrative approach to research on history teachers’ PCK, based on studies of German-speaking history didactics against the backdrop of English-language discourse. A literature review is used to compare existing theories, the elements and methods employed in studies, and their results to discuss future directions. The review reveals that studies on PCK are less prevalent than those focusing on content knowledge or beliefs. The studies are often based on systematic approaches, in which PCK is related to overarching concepts of teachers’ professional competence and examined using quantitative procedures or combinations of qualitative and quantitative methods. However, the studies faced several methodological difficulties. In contrast, qualitative studies on individual aspects of PCK dominate the English-language discourse, making it difficult to draw general conclusions. Therefore, approaches from both contexts should be combined to systematically promote PCK among prospective history teachers and enable valid assessments.

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The process of historical questioning: a systematic literature review

History Education Research Journal, 2026

The majority of history educators in the English- and German-speaking contexts concur that the ob... more The majority of history educators in the English- and German-speaking contexts concur that the objective of history education is to foster historical thinking. While there exist some models for the progression of second-order concepts that provide an analytical framework to support these learning processes, such models are almost entirely lacking for the procedural aspects of historical thinking. This is also true for historical questioning, which is generally regarded in the literature as the ‘engine’ of historical thinking. However, there remains a paucity of theories and empirical studies that systematically operationalise the process of historical questioning and its development. To address this research gap, our systematic literature review provides in-depth insight into relevant studies on (historical) questioning from different angles in order to conceptualise three main operations of historical questioning: (1) experiencing perplexity, (2) expliciting perplexity and (3) expressing the historical question. Furthermore, the review systematises sub-operations and quality characteristics of both the process of historical questioning and its operations. Finally, the results are discussed based on an analytical framework and with regard to practical implications.

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Historisches Orientieren in Zeiten des Russisch-Ukrainischen Krieges digital beforschen

Geschichtslernen in Zeiten der Krise, 2026

In the context of the war in Ukraine, think aloud protocols of a sample of people with different ... more In the context of the war in Ukraine, think aloud protocols of a sample of people with different levels of expertise (e.g., high school and university students, historians) were investigated in order to prove the assumption of the history didactic literature that contemporary crises are related to aspects of historical orientation. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to find out which suboperations of historical orientation the participants applied in the context of a digital environment when dealing with the crisis-related topic of Swiss neutrality in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian war. In addition, the data were analyzed to determine the extent to which differences in performance could be identified between the expertise groups. In summary, the analyses indicate that it is difficult to clearly categorize suboperations of historical orientation and that crisis-related topics per se do not trigger a deep historical orientation in either novices or experts. In this respect, there is a difference between the normative assumptions of the historical didactic literature and the empirical results.

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Historisches Lernen erforschen. (Wissenschafts-)Theoretische Grundlagen und empirische Fundierung

Geschichtsdidaktisch forschen. Theorie und Empirie im Dialog, 2025

Contrary to the prevailing view of the supremacy of theory, the paper argues for a cyclic connect... more Contrary to the prevailing view of the supremacy of theory, the paper argues for a cyclic connection of theory and empiricism in the process of knowledge creation in the field of history didactics. We justify this view against the background of the activity theory of the cultural-historical school and show how we use our concept of narrative competence, existing approaches to historical thinking and learning, and empirical analyses from our research project “Research of Learning Processes in History” to substantiate historical thinking and learning in such a way that its understandings contribute to social orientation in relevant fields (e.g., research, history teaching). Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of our approach and draw implications for the relationship between theoretical and empirical (as well as normative and pragmatic) knowledge production.

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Den Umgang mit Quellen und Darstellungen digital beforschen - eine Pilotstudie

Historisches Denken erforschen, 2025

This study used the method of thinking aloud to investigate how people with different levels of e... more This study used the method of thinking aloud to investigate how people with different levels of expertise deal with sources and accounts when they were asked to develop and answer a historical question in a digital environment. Thinking aloud protocols were analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis in order to determine which operations of narrative competence emerge. In addition, differences in operations between a novice and an expert were identified.
Initial results indicate that the operations of narrative competence can be investigated with satisfactory to very good reliability. Further sub-operations could also be differentiated to some extent. With regard to qualitative differences, criteria such as complexity or functionality appear to be suitable for describing different characteristics.

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Why an integrated approach matters: searching a way to understand the formation of prospective history teachers’ epistemological beliefs

Teachers and the Epistemology of History , 2024

This chapter argues for an integrated perspective of developmental, dimensional, and contextual a... more This chapter argues for an integrated perspective of developmental, dimensional, and contextual approaches to epistemological beliefs to understand how they might be shaped in prospective history teachers during history teacher education. To this end, the various approaches are discussed, drawing on literature from educational psychology, historical theory, and history education to construct an integrative framework of epistemological beliefs. The empirical studies are presented to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the approach. The discussion concludes with related challenges and future directions.

format_quoteThe EBQH showed construct validity and acceptable reliability with 177 prospective history teachers in institutions across Switzerland.format_quote

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Martin Nitsche, Andreas Hübner & Sebastian Barsch: Die Zeit(en) des Anthropozäns in gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Lehrplänen. Potenziale und Grenzen

zeitschrift für didaktik der gesellschaftswissenschaften, 2023

The time(s) of the Anthropocene in social science curricula – potentials and limitations Anthropo... more The time(s) of the Anthropocene in social science curricula – potentials and limitations Anthropocene challenges modern concepts of time, which by themselves cannot provide a deep understanding of climate change and of the climate crisis. Instead, transdisciplinary concepts of time and social science approaches seem predestined to reflect anthropogenic time(s). The article presents a theoretical outline of the time(s) of the Anthropocene and social science didactics, followed by a discussion of the thematic potential and limitations of sample social science curricula for teaching the time(s) of Anthropocene.

Narrative Kompetenz und epistemologische Beliefs im Geschichtsunterricht fördern? Zur Wirksamkeit einer Schreibintervention an Deutschschweizer Gymnasien

Geschichtsdidaktisch intervenieren, 2023

Promoting Narrative Competence and Epistemological Beliefs in History Classes? On the Effectivene... more Promoting Narrative Competence and Epistemological Beliefs in History Classes? On the Effectiveness of a Writing Intervention in German-Swiss Grammar Schools Experimental studies testing historical writing instruction that promotes students’ narrative competence are still missing. We, therefore, conducted an intervention study in upper secondary schools in German-speaking Switzerland to foster students’ narrative competence. Using a quasi-experimental research design, participants’ narrative competence was assessed using material-based writing tasks. Because prior research indicated that students’ epistemological beliefs are involved when they were asked to write historically, we also investigated students’ epistemological beliefs by serving a closed-ended questionnaire. Regression analyses indicate that our intervention significantly impacted students’ narrative competence. However, we found neither significant intervention effects on participants’ epistemological beliefs nor correlations between them and students’ narrative competence.

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Editorial: Epistemic cognition in history education

by Christian Mathis, Martin Nitsche, and David O'Neill

Historical Encounters: A journal of historical consciousness, historical cultures, and history education

Distributed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License BACKGROUND This special issue arose out of the sympos... more Distributed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License BACKGROUND This special issue arose out of the symposium "Epistemic Cognition in History-insights into structure and practice" that was held at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in New York, organized by the first and third guest editors. In addition, it was inspired by the work of the second guest editor, an associate editor of Historical Encounters, who recently published a handbook chapter about epistemic cognition and historical thinking (Mathis & Parkes, 2020). Adapting Hofer's (2016) domain-general understanding, we use the phrase "epistemic cognition in history" to refer broadly to individuals' beliefs, concepts, thinking, and reasoning about knowledge and knowing in the field of history. Our special issue contributes to the growing body of over 20 studies about epistemic cognition in the field of history education that have been conducted in the last decade, since Maggioni and colleagues published their seminal works involving history teachers, historians, and school students (Maggioni, 2010; Maggioni et al., 2004, 2009; VanSledright & Maggioni, 2016). It seems somewhat surprising that history educators around the globe are engaged in studying the construct in such density at the current moment, given that epistemology is one of the oldest fields of philosophy. In fact, theorists of history such as Ricoeur (1984) have linked reflections on historical and epistemic cognition to considerations made by Aristotle in antiquity. Since the

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Béatrice Ziegler & Martin Nitsche: Das «Frauenstimmrecht» in Deutschschweizer Geschichtslehrmitteln auf der Basis des Lehrplans 21 – Eine kompetenzorientierte Analyse. In: Didactica Historica 8, 2022, S. 1-12.

by Béatrice Ziegler and Martin Nitsche

Didactica Historica, 2022

Die Einführung des Wahl-und Stimmrechts für Frauen in der Schweiz aufgrund einer Abstimmung des m... more Die Einführung des Wahl-und Stimmrechts für Frauen in der Schweiz aufgrund einer Abstimmung des männlichen «Stimmvolks» 1971 gilt im 2014 ausgearbeiteten Lehrplan 21 (LP21), dem ersten sprachregionalen Lehrplan der deutschsprachigen Schweiz, als sogenanntes «wichtiges Ereignis». In diesem Beitrag soll untersucht werden, wie die Geschichtslehrmittel für die Sekundarstufe I, die seit 2014 mit Bezug zum LP21 entstanden sind, mit diesem «wichtigen Ereignis» umgehen. Dafür soll zuerst zum einen der Lehrplan näher betrachtet und zum anderen die geschichtskulturelle Deutung der Abstimmung von 1971 anlässlich des Jubiläums 2021 angesprochen werden. Danach werden die inhaltlichen Darstellungen und die darauf basierenden Aufgabenstellungen der einbezogenen Geschichtslehrmittel analysiert. Das «Frauenstimmrecht» wird im LP21 für die Sek I-Stufe unter den wichtigen Ereignissen der Schweizer Geschichte aufgeführt. So heisst es unter der Kompetenz 5.1.c:

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Nitsche, M., & Waldis, M. (2022). Narrative competence and epistemological beliefs of German Swiss prospective history teachers: A situated relationship

Historical Encounters, 2022

Few history education studies have indicated that school students' epistemological beliefs affect... more Few history education studies have indicated that school students' epistemological beliefs affect their historical thinking and writing. Some research has suggested that history teaching could affect these aspects. Several history educators have assumed that (prospective) history teachers' epistemological beliefs are related to their ways of teaching and to their ability to think historically. Yet evidence underpinning these assumptions is rare. To address this gap, we investigated how prospective German Swiss history teachers' epistemological beliefs impacts their reading and writing abilities in terms of narrative competence. We therefore applied argumentative writing tasks to assess participants' narrative competence and surveyed their epistemological beliefs and further contextual covariates (e.g. situational interest, number of history courses attended at university). Results show small effects of participants' epistemological beliefs on their narrative competence, while their situational interest is more influential. Other contextual constructs (e.g. number of history courses attended at university) are also predictive. Overall, our results indicate that narrative competence and epistemological beliefs are correlated, yet situated in contextual aspects.

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