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…

Describes the development of a valid and reliable method to quantitatively analyze the content of science textbooks, especially those used in middle and senior high school science courses. The approach employed four aspects of scientific literacy to determine curriculum balance in textbooks. (KR)

Develops a history and philosophy of science framework based on a rational reconstruction of experimental observations that led to the Millikan-Ehrenhaft controversy, and evaluates 31 chemistry books for coverage of the controversy. Finds that most books lacked a history and philosophy of science perspective and did not adequately address several…

Presents findings from a systematic analysis of elementary-school science textbooks in terms of content domain, method of information presentation, types of questions, and considerateness. Found substantial differences between programs and suggests five further research questions. (YP)

Linguistic content analysis, method of encoding textual data by categorizing key words and identifying relationships, was developed to assess degree to which science was portrayed as process of inquiry within high school biology textbook series. The frequency of science as a process of inquiry increased from 1956 to 1965, then showed a pattern of…

Examines 11 elementary science texts in terms of conceptual structure and reasoning demands using concept maps. Reports that (1) the conceptual structures vary widely across texts; (2) most of the structures are well defined; and (3) the reasoning demands are above the developmental capabilities of most of primary-level children. (Author/YP)

Reports on a study designed to examine selected units of commonly used elementary science texts, using the Project Synthesis goal clusters as a framework for part of the examination. The discussion of the finding focuses on the comparison of the results to recommendations of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). (TW)