This communication shows that although some textbooks do not discuss how to apply Raoult's law to electrolyte solutions, we should not ignore dissociation, and the van't Hoff factor must be considered.

Visual elements such as graphs, tables, and diagrams are essential components of scientific writing. Although scientific writing textbooks and guides often contain information on how to design such visuals, little has been written on how to effectively discuss those visuals within the text. This article offers a novel heuristic for teaching…

For students to know how to prepare for severe weather, they must first understand what types of weather they might experience in their location. Much of students' interactions with and learning about severe weather events will happen through printed text resources and video excerpts. Through the use of such resources, young students can begin to…

A survey of the Earth science content of science textbooks found a wide range of misconceptions. These are discussed in this article with reference to the published literature on Earth science misconceptions. Most misconceptions occurred in the "sedimentary rocks and processes" and "Earth's structure and plate tectonics"…

Short circuiting an electrochemical cell is an unreported but persistent error in the electrochemistry textbooks. It is suggested that diagrams depicting a cell delivering usable current to a load be postponed, the theory of open-circuit galvanic cells is explained, the voltages from the tables of standard reduction potentials is calculated and…

Textbooks and encyclopedias represent different genres of scientific literature. Textbooks help the students to prepare for their examinations in various subjects taught at schools, such as logic, metaphysic, chemistry. In the 17th Century some Calvinist professors, mostly in Germany, thought that a universal wholeness should be taught for the…

Vitamin E was discovered in 1922, but in more than 60 years many new findings have added to the early one. However, its description in many textbooks has not been proportionally updated. The result is an inaccurate, incomplete, and often incorrect description of the function of this vitamin. In some other textbooks, vitamin E is absolutely…

Discusses errors/misleading statements concerning the principle of action/reaction as found in two published sources. The first, focusing on the application of Newton's third law to airplane lift, is found in a college-level text. The second, related to electromagnetic forces, is found in a book providing solutions to physics problems. (JN)

Demonstrates the difference between typical textbook fare and textbook material designed to be comprehensive and built upon the reader's understanding, arguing that the hallmark of persuasion and learning must include comprehensibility and understandability. A taxonomy of text types is presented, examining the argument and explanation patterns and…

Seven recent inorganic chemistry textbooks are examined and compared with each other and with textbooks from the 1960s. Findings show several different and contrasting trends in the topics emphasized, allowing teachers to select a textbook most aligned with their course content or philosophy. (JN)

One of the key requirements of the Common Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. By the time they complete the core, students must be able to read and comprehend independently and proficiently the kinds of complex texts commonly found…

The Key State Education Policies on PK-12 Education is intended to inform policymakers and educators about the current status of key education policies that define and shape elementary and secondary education in public schools across the 50 states. The report is part of a continuing series by the Council's State Education Indicators program.…

Textbooks for GCE Advanced Level Biology have provided over-simplified and inaccurate accounts of Charles Darwin's contribution to the study of evolution over a period of many decades. They have credited him with field skills and insight that he did not possess, and repeated several historical inaccuracies. Darwin's strength was as a synthesiser…

The relatively new field of open educational resources (OER) is just now receiving more widespread attention and study. As such, there have been few opportunities thus far to share knowledge across program, organizational and national boundaries. This article presents a case study of the development of the South African project Free High School…

Describes how thermodynamics has been integrated into various chemical engineering courses at Pennsylvania State University. Also describes "Introductory Thermodynamics for Chemical Engineers," a basic textbook which summarizes aspects of thermodynamics necessary to formulate, design, operate, and control chemical processes of the 1980s.…