Examines the meaning and usage of "piropos" in Hispanic culture and Spanish textbooks. Readings from textbooks and dictionaries define "piropos" as "amorous compliments, flirtatious remarks especially made in the street." Although "piropos" are sexist by U.S. standards, the majority of native Spanish speakers do not consider "piropos" sexist. (29…

Argues for the adoption of a literacy pedagogy to enable tertiary level students from different language backgrounds to access expository text. The article describes the outcomes of a project exploring whether college freshmen from different language backgrounds had appropriate strategies and awareness levels to understand and retain ideas from…

A study investigating the influence of textbooks on teaching strategies in 13 schools compared teaching strategies of 14 secondary teachers using University of Chicago School Mathematics Project secondary mathematics textbooks to those of 14 teachers using other textbooks. Results indicate that textbooks convey pedagogical messages and provide…

Examines how nine world history texts treat the Harappan (Indus) civilization and the Aryans in ancient India. Analyzes the pioneering scholars of Indian studies, exploring the development of ideas about ancient Indian history. Discusses the ideas of recent scholars about the Aryan invasion theory, the Indus civilization, and the Vedas. (CMK)

Discusses an electronic textbook called "Essential Principles of Economics." Explains that economic concepts are found by following links from the table of contents, while each chapter includes both expository information and interactive material including online multiple-choice drill questions. States that the textbook is a "work…

Reveals the inadequacies of current methodological texts in relation to their treatment of science. Provides background information on three methodological eras in science and describes a current, more accepted, concept of science. Offers suggestions on how to improve methodological instruction and includes references. (CMK)

Investigates the practices required for reading graphs in high school textbooks and scientific journals. Discusses the role of high school textbooks in the appropriation of authentic scientific graph-related practices. Finds that scientific journals provide more resources to facilitate graph reading and feature more elaborate descriptions and…

Argues for a system of quality control that discovers errors and communicates them to textbook users (students and teachers), and a system that keeps the worst textbooks off the market. (WRM)

Considers the role the "National Standards for Civics and Government" will play in measuring and assessing the civic competence and political attitudes of students. Finds that the Standards will also affect the textbooks used in schools, national testing in grades K-12, and the tests taken by students seeking teaching credentials. (CMK)

In this article, the environmental content of the textbooks used for the teaching of natural sciences in Greek primary schools was examined. Specifically, by employing the method of content analysis, both representational (metaphors, depictions, values, etc.) and cognitive ecological concepts) elements, building images of nature, and shaping our…

This article examines discourses of cultural knowledge and ideology in Chinese language textbooks currently used for primary school students nationwide in China. Within the framework of critical curriculum theory and using critical discourse analysis, this article critically investigates how discourses of cultural knowledge are constructed and…

Exercises and problems about functions found in 24 middle-school textbooks from 15 countries were analysed using an adaptation of Balacheff's theory of conceptions and Biehler's notion of the prototypical domain of application of concepts in order to describe the practices associated with the notion of function. The analysis yielded five different…

This study examined how textbooks from England, Japan, Sweden, and the United States portray America's role in World War II. Analysis of the central story lines revealed that historical information purveyed to students in different nations varies considerably. Accordingly, U.S. textbooks emphasize the significant and pre-eminent role that the…

The author recounts a tale about impairment of academic freedom that he experienced while teaching in the MBA program of a respected business school. The management department chair restricted the of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals in a course called "Conflict and Negotiation." The political correctness movement has come full circle when it…

A deliberate attempt is made in Business Mathematics oriented text books as well as in some reform calculus oriented text books to interpret the derivative f[prime](a) of a function y = f(x) at the value x = a as the change in the y-value of the function per "unit" of change in the x-value. This note questions the above interpretation and suggests…