Pedagogical Practice and Content Mastery of Geography Teachers in Malaysia Based on Rasch Model Analysis

HRMARS - Secondary school geography education in Malaysia plays an important role in shaping students who are knowledgeable, critical, sensitive to the environment, and able to understand the relationship between humans, space, and current issues. The effectiveness of geography teaching depends largely on the ability of teachers to implement appropriate pedagogical practices and master the subject content in depth. However, the actual level of pedagogical practices and content mastery of geography teachers still needs to be identified empirically, especially to determine strengths and aspects that require improvement. This study aims to assess the level of pedagogical practices and content mastery of secondary school geography teachers in Malaysia based on Rasch model analysis. This study uses a quantitative approach with a descriptive survey design. A total of 300 secondary school geography teachers were selected as respondents through proportional stratified sampling and simple random sampling. This study uses the Malaysian Geography Teacher Professionalism Questionnaire Instrument with a five-point Likert scale containing 30 items, namely 15 items for the Pedagogical Practice construct and 15 items for the Content Mastery construct. Data were analyzed using the Rasch model through WINSTEPS software by examining person and item measurements, reliability, separation, item suitability, and item order based on logit. The study findings showed that the pedagogical practices and content mastery of geography teachers were at a high level. However, more authentic pedagogical practices such as fieldwork, project-based learning, practical experiences, and inquiry strategies are still more challenging to implement consistently. In terms of content mastery, technical and applicative content such as Geographic Information Systems, the use of geographic data, and value integration still need to be strengthened. Geography teachers have a strong pedagogical and content foundation, but more focused professional development is needed to strengthen authentic pedagogy, technical content mastery, and the use of geospatial technology in geography teaching.