Teaching and learning are grounded on age-appropriate, credible curricular resources, which can be formal (i.e. textbooks) and informal (i.e. trade-books). As Charles Darwin's ideas galvanized biology and racism, this study examined his historical representation within trade-books (e.g. biography, narrative non-fiction, expository, etc.),…

This article focuses on ten U.S. history textbooks, all in common use across the nation. This study adopts a historical narrative analysis, which aims to determine the manner in which textbook narratives may promote "de facto national mandates." This method allows for the comparison of textbook narratives to historical works, looking for…

The properness of concepts, principles, and biological contents of natural science textbooks is essential. The aim of this research was to compare the biology content of natural science textbooks for VIII graders in second semester. The indicators used to determine the properness were the accuracy of Core Competence/CC and Basic Competence/BC,…

This study analyzed cognitive representations of knowledge from the chemistry of matter unit in a ninth-grade science textbook--the only authorized textbook in Saudi Arabia. It examined textual and visual information from two lessons in order to identify the textbook's introduction of concepts, linguistic context, integration of concepts, and the…

It is important to assess periodically how introductory textbooks portray our discipline because introductory psychology is the most popular psychology course, almost all teachers use textbooks for it, and textbooks play a major role in defining the course for students. To do so, past studies have used textbook citation analyses. We analyzed…

Indigenous populations have historically been marginalized in the language curriculum in Taiwan. As education reform in the 1990s ensued, textbooks became democratized and aimed to include more local diverse cultures. However, the portrayal of Indigenous cultures in the new current language textbooks has not been adequately studied in past…

Many university-level electrical engineering courses continue to use textbooks as curriculum scaffolds, prescribed texts, and/or reference volumes. Textbook reliance is even more pronounced in courses that teach foundational principles of the discipline, such as introductory circuit theory. This paper reports on the conceptual coverage of…

This document presents a review of evidence commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation to inform the guidance document "Improving Mathematics in Key Stages Two and Three" (Education Endowment Foundation, 2017). The review draws on a substantial parallel study by the same research team, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which…

As people attempt to make sense of the world, they develop personal knowledge structures. These structures often contain misconceptions--inaccurate or incomplete information--that are highly resistant to change because existing knowledge networks must be restructured to accommodate counterintuitive information in a process known as conceptual…

Historians work in a discipline with few inherent concepts and are obliged to draw upon many fields in recreating the past. Yet authors of most school history texts, state and national standards and curriculum materials seldom incorporate economic analysis in their work. Just look at state standards that include Adam Smith and John Locke but draw…

Interviews with representatives of nine municipal agencies involved in air-quality education were analyzed for concepts and skills perceived as important for citizens in addressing air-quality concerns. Interviewees focused mainly on general air quality-related understandings (60.2%), although cognitive skills (22.0%) and specific concepts (17.8%)…

This study assessed the representations of nature of science (NOS) in high school chemistry textbooks and the extent to which these representations have changed during the past four decades. Analyses focused on the empirical, tentative, inferential, creative, theory-driven, and social NOS, in addition to the myth of "The Scientific Method," the…

Presents an analysis of the treatment of Newton's Laws and relativistic mass in the nine most popular college physics textbooks. Concludes that only two textbooks give a correct interpretation of relativistic mass and only a single text gives a correct discussion of Newton's First Law. (JRH)

Examines images of principals' instructional leadership, based on 10 supervision textbooks published between 1985 and 1995. Textbooks portrayed principals as experts and superiors, teachers as deficient and voiceless, teaching as fixed technology, and supervision as a discrete intervention. Images of professional growth (stressing collegiality and…

Summarizes recent findings of empirical research in science education concerning students with disabilities. Discusses learning characteristics of disabled students, effective instructional strategies including text-based interventions and inquiry-oriented interventions, and inclusion practices. Contains 70 references. (WRM)