Discusses Joseph Schwab, a reformer who worked on the Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS), noting how BSCS texts implemented his ideas, and the reformer Gerald Holton's ideas, arguing for a science curriculum that includes social dimensions, attitudes associated with inquiry, and processes employed to construct scientific knowledge. (SM)

Contends that social studies textbooks do not reflect recent archaeological research on pre-Columbian Americans. Summarizes recent research results and develops new concepts about Mayan civilization. Examines and rates 12 textbooks currently used in public schools regarding how well they incorporate the new research on Mayan civilization. (DB)

Considers topics about cell function often misunderstood, misrepresented, or omitted from biology textbooks: enzyme catalyzed reactions; RNA as a catalyst; protein levels in cells; amino acids; organic acids; glucose and fructose; gluconeogenesis; fatty acids and ketone bodies; diffusion; and transport across membranes. (Contains 25 references.)…

Reports findings from a critical analysis of English grammar books and language books with grammar content used in New South Wales (Australia) elementary and secondary schools. Books surveyed showed a low level of awareness of developments in contemporary linguistics, particularly the structural approach to grammar instruction. (Author/MSE)

Compares three textbook accounts of Anne Hutchinson's life to show the importance of teaching students historical thinking. Presents a lesson that will enable students to analyze these historical accounts of Hutchinson and also to examine the interpretive nature of history. Provides two appendices. (CMK)

Expounds on two headline articles from the "Edmonton Journal" (Canada) that prompted the columnist to reflect on the history of the textbook in social studies. The two articles refer to politically motivated editing of history texts in Hong Kong and Japan. Urges history teachers to teach history "the way it happened." (DSK)

A study evaluated 10 textbooks related to working with families of students with disabilities that may be used in special-education teacher-preparation programs. Results indicate variability among the textbooks regarding the representation of culturally diverse populations and fluctuation in cultural-diversity content across textbooks. (Author/CR)

This article describes the construction of instruments for evaluating statistics texts that are grounded in the statistical education and text evaluation literatures. Student, instructor, and expert evaluator instruments were piloted with 36 graduate students and 5 faculty members. Results suggest the usefulness of the developed instruments. (SLD)

Suggests that additional attention to the sequencing of the grammatical structures needed for receptive comprehension might alleviate the problems associated with first-year German textbooks. The simple past tense, word order, and the indefinite pronoun "man" are used to illustrate the concept of a receptive grammar. (14 references) (Author/CK)

Analyzes five cases related to challenges to public school textbooks. Five different U.S. Courts of Appeal have considered the objections of parents to textbooks, and all five found for the defendant school districts. Reveals that what began as a grassroots parental movement evolved into a nationwide crusade that has embroiled communities. (129…

Provides a historical overview of two centuries of change in history textbook writing. Focuses on the social attitudes toward ethnic groups as portrayed in U.S. history textbooks from 1800s-1960s and discusses the conservative themes that are present in U.S. history textbooks. Questions why textbooks adhered to conservative themes. (CMK)

Business school law courses should promote understanding of legal processes affecting business, help students learn to recognize legal issues and manage legal risks, increase ethical sensitivity, and help students to develop critical thinking skills. To this end, business law and legal environment textbooks tend to focus on ethical and legal…

Although all of us must teach against the text at times, I find myself doing this most often when teaching about qualitative methods in the context of a general introductory methods course. Myths about the nature and practice of qualitative research are both embedded in the folklore of mainstream sociology and supported by the textbooks that we…

Instructors teaching beginning programming classes are often interested in exercises that involve processing photographs (i.e., files stored as .jpeg). They may wish to offer activities such as color inversion, the color manipulation effects archived with pixel thresholding, or steganography, all of which Stevenson et al. [4] assert are sought by…

Every year, historians in the United States attend the American Historical Association (AHA), a conference that has met annually since 1884. The AHA draws scholars from all specializations, and it is the primary organization through which the profession is represented. In 1969, the conference met at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. At…