Heat and Temperature: an analysis of how these concepts are dealt with in textbooks

Despite the fact that textbooks are primarily directed at students, research has shown that teachers are heavily reliant and dependent on them. On the other hand, there is some empirical evidence that textbook presentation of science content may lack accuracy and strengthen some alternative conceptions on their users. Besides, it seems that textbooks are not always in agreement with the results of educational research, namely in regard to teaching approaches. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to analyse how 9th grade Portuguese physics textbooks deal with heat and temperature, in order to see whether or not they are adequate sources of information for students and teachers. Eleven 9th grade textbooks are analysed with regard to ideas included, correctness of concepts and arguments, global teaching approach, learning activities (nature, diversity, level of investigation, etc.). The results indicate that the majority of the textbooks are hardly consistent with modem perspectives for science education.     

Polysemy in the Domain-Specific Pedagogical Use of Graphs in Science Textbooks: The Case of an Electrocardiogram

Polysemy in graph-related practices is the phenomenon that a single graph can sustain different meanings assigned to it. Considerable research has been done on polysemy in graph-related practices in school science in which graphs are rather used as scientific tools. However, graphs in science textbooks are also used rather pedagogically to illustrate domain-specific textbook content and less empirical work has been done in this respect. The aim of this study is therefore to better understand polysemy in the domain-specific pedagogical use of graphs in science textbooks. From socio-cultural and cultural-historical perspectives, we perceive polysemy as irreducible to either the meaning-making (semiotic) resources provided by the graph or its readers who assign meaning to it. Departing from this framework, we simultaneously investigated: (a) the meanings 44 pre-university biology students assigned to the Cartesian plane of a graph that is commonly used as a pedagogical tool in Dutch high school biology textbooks (an electrocardiogram); (b) the semiotic resources provided by this graph; and (c) the educational practices of which it is supposedly a part according to the actions constituted by the textbooks that were to be conducted by students. Drawing on this case, we show polysemy in the pedagogical use of graphs in science textbooks. In turn, we show how this polysemy can be explained dialectically as the result of both the meaning-making resources provided by the textbooks and the graph-related practices in which students supposedly engaged by using their textbooks. The educational implications of these findings are discussed.     

The lack of representation of educational psychology and school psychology in introductory psychology textbooks

The first goal of this study was to look at the representation of educational and school psychology in introductory psychology textbooks. Research into the representation of other sub‐fields of psychology has been conducted but no research has looked specifically at educational or school psychology. The second goal was to compare the representation of educational and school psychology in introductory psychology textbooks to see if one or the other is receiving more coverage. Third, the textbooks with the most coverage were listed in order to aid educational and school psychologists teaching introductory psychology courses in selecting textbooks that adequately cover material from their sub‐fields. A total of 57 introductory psychology textbooks were content analyzed: 65% of the introductory psychology textbooks had educational psychology material and 65% had school psychology material. However, in the textbooks containing this material the educational and school psychology material made up only .29% and .19% of the textbooks’ total content.     

Early Research in Educational Psychology

Twenty-one schools active in training educational psychologists early in the century have been identified. Three major journals publishing educational psychology research between 1910 and 1925 were studied to determine the nature and extent of research performed in the institutions. Productivity ranged from high to low, with about one third of studies devoted to intelligence and its measurement, and one third devoted to other aspects of measurement. Educational psychologists professed to be concerned primarily with learning, but only about 10% of their research focused on learning. Examination of textbooks of the period revealed that authors' sources of evidence primarily came from traditional education (mostly methods) books, secondarily from traditional general psychology books, and very little from educational psychology research. However described, early educational psychologists were primarily psychometrists, depending on traditional education and psychology for the data they espoused.     

History of Mathematics in Korean Mathematics Textbooks: Implication for Using Ethnomathematics in Culturally Diverse School

From a multicultural perspective, this research investigated to what extent Korean mathematics textbooks use history of mathematics. The results show even though educational use of history presented in Korean mathematics textbooks may provide a rich outlook, it does not encourage a fundamental change in the educational practice of school mathematics that has traditionally been entrenched in the Eurocentric narrative of mathematics. This suggests that the mathematics textbooks were not organized effectively to promote students’ understanding of diversity. Based on the results, we discuss the implications for the development of mathematics textbook from multicultural perspectives.     

Content analysis of inquiry-based tasks in high school biology textbooks in Mainland China

Since inquiry was first introduced to science education, a lot of inquiry-based tasks have appeared in textbooks for supporting an inquiry-based approach. These tasks have great potential to direct the implementation of an inquiry-based approach, as teachers rely heavily on the use of existing instructional materials in most K-12 classrooms. However, these tasks would not actually take effect unless they could accomplish the mission of assisting in the achievement of the educational goals of an inquiry-based approach, for which it is necessary to assess the design quality of inquiry-based tasks in textbooks. Content analysis is an effective way to evaluate the design quality of textbooks. This study adopted the instrument – the Inquiry-based Tasks Analysis Inventory (ITAI), which fits the purpose and has strong reliability and validity – to analyse the inquiry-based tasks in current high school biology textbooks in Mainland China. The results show that (1) some of the inquiry-based tasks separate the inquiry process from scientific content, (2) current textbooks do not present balanced dispositions to use inquiry process skills, and (3) inquiry-based tasks in current textbooks do not reflect a proper understanding about scientific inquiry. The findings call for revisions of inquiry-based tasks in textbooks and indicate the ambiguous understanding about inquiry that may be held by the textbook authors. What is more, the problems revealed by this study are very similar to those found in previous studies in other regions, which highlights the need for continuous attention to the evaluation of inquiry-based tasks in textbooks.     

Towards a Framework of Socio-Linguistic Analysis of Science Textbooks: The Greek Case

This study aims at presenting a grid for analysing the way the language employed in Greek school science textbooks tends to project pedagogic messages. These messages are analysed for the different school science subjects (i.e., Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and educational levels (i.e., primary and lower secondary level). The analysis is made using the dimensions of content specialisation (classification) and social-pedagogic relationships (framing) promoted by the language of the school science textbooks as well as the elaboration and abstraction of the corresponding linguistic code (formality), thus combining pedagogical and socio-linguistic perspectives. Classification and formality are used to identify the ways science textbooks tend to position students in relation to the interior of the corresponding specialised body of knowledge (i.e., in terms of content and code) while framing is used to identify the ways science textbooks tend to position students as learning subjects within the school science discourse. The results show that the kind of pedagogic messages projected by the textbooks depends mainly on the educational level and not particularly on the specific discipline. As the educational level rises a gradual move towards more specialised forms of scientific knowledge (mainly in terms of code) with a parallel increase in the students' autonomy in accessing the textbook material is noticed. The implications concern the way both students and teachers approach science textbooks as well as the roles they can undertake by internalising the textbooks' pedagogic messages and also the way science textbooks are authored.     

我国大陆教育社会学研究的特点与演变(1979-2005)——基于对教育社会学重建以来概论性著作的文本分析

对大陆教育社会学恢复重建以来的18本概论性教材类著作分析后,发现大陆教育社会学研究具有以下特点:在研究范式上,功能论一直居于主导地位;在研究思路上,围绕教育与社会的关系而展开;在研究目的上,重"体系"构建;在研究方法上,以"定性"为主。大陆教育社会学研究的趋势是:由体系意识转向问题意识;由二元对立走向多元综合;由价值中立走向批判参与;由只重学术使命到学术使命与社会使命并重。     

台湾海峡两岸高中化学教材的比较和应用——以“物质结构与性质内容”为例

摘要：研究表明：两岸高中化学教材存在诸多不同;用简便的列表方法,不难对两岸高中化学教材进行面上比较;紧密结合两岸的教学实际,合理解释、正确理解比较的结果,可以使台湾教材的某些好的理念、内容和方法应用到大陆的教学过程,着实提高教学质量。     

Exploring ethical issues associated with using online surveys in educational research

Online surveys are increasingly used in educational research, yet little attention has focused on ethical issues associated with their use in educational settings. Here, we draw on the broader literature to discuss 5 key ethical issues in the context of educational survey research: dual teacher/researcher roles; informed consent; use of incentives; privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality; and data quality. We illustrate methods of addressing these issues with our experiences conducing online surveys in educational contexts. Moving beyond the procedural ethics approach commonly adopted in quantitative educational research, we recommend adopting a situated/process ethics approach to identify and respond to ethical issues that may arise during the conduct, analysis, and reporting of online survey research. The benefits of online surveying in comparison to traditional survey methods are highlighted, including the potential for online surveys to provide ethically defensible methods of conducting research that would not be feasible in offline education research settings.     

Survey research in higher education

Although textbooks on educational research give only scant attention to survey research methodology, its extensive use in education provides a strong rationale for improving the preparation of educational researchers in effectively applying survey methods. This study reviews methods for dealing with nonresponse bias, the primary problem presented by survey methods. It also provides an updated review of the literature of studies investigating the effectiveness of incentives to increase survey response rates. We hypothesized that a reanalysis of reviewed studies, using a linear trend test, would resolve the inconsistencies found regarding the effectiveness of incentives to increase response rates. The results of the reanalysis and guidelines for educational researchers in systematically selecting and applying incentives to increase response rates are discussed.     

Teaching Consultation for Mental Health and Educational Settings

A course in consultation is increasingly becoming part of the required graduate curriculum of counseling psychologists/counselors who are training for employment in mental health and educational settings. It seems that most textbooks on consultation are devoted to theory and practice, and most journal articles on the topic focus on research outcomes. There is also a paucity of literature regarding practices in methods of teaching consultants for mental health and educational settings. This article outlines a practical model for teaching consultation skills that includes didactic presentations, demonstrations, and simulation experiences.     

学科教材论的概念建构与发展路径——以地理学科为例

学科教材论是一门主要探讨学科教材的编写、使用、评价、管理、历史和发展等方面的问题,注重揭示学科教材的编写和教学使用规律的学科,是一门兼具实践应用性与理论性的学科。其研究对象是以学科教材编写和使用等现象和事实为基础的、在教育价值观引导下形成的学科教材问题,研究范围主要包括学科教材论基本原理系列、学科教材开发和使用过程系列、学科教材历史发展与比较系列。发展学科教材论需要凝聚研究力量,建立学科教材论的学术共同体;需要扎根实践土壤,把握学科教材论建设的重难点;需要着眼独有元素,突出各学科教材论建设的个性;需要知悉理论基础,以多元视角开展学科教材研究;需要增强方法自觉,构建学科教材研究的方法体系。     

Minority Education in Georgia: Is It Delivering What Is Expected?

This article explores the issue of minority education in the nation of Georgia, and this research aims to identify the reasons for minority educational problems. The results of school exit exams, literacy research studies, and the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment were used to highlight the differences in educational achievements of minority and majority students. Content analysis and empirical analysis of focus group discussions form the methodological basis for this study. The research identifies two important factors that influence the quality of general education in minority schools: (a) national curriculum and school textbooks and (b) teacher certification and professional development. Based on these results, the article provides suggestions for the improvement of teacher qualification, school curriculum, and textbooks for non-Georgian schools in Georgia. The author will argue that without fundamental, long-term, and sophisticated national curriculum and textbooks, as well as professional development reforms for teachers, integration of society will remain a problem in Georgia.     

关于音乐教育心理学研究方法的思考

通过对当前音乐教育心理学的发展现状的分析指出,音乐教育心理学已经成为音乐心理学的一个重要组成部分,对音乐教育心理学研究方法的思考具有现实意义。当今我国音乐教育心理学研究一方面亟需加强“量的研究”,另一方面必须重视“质的研究”,在教育实践中采用行动研究模式将两者有机地结合是实际有效的研究方法。     

从教育交流的视野看我国当代教育理论的构建——以五种《教育学》教材的文本分析为中心的实证研究

教育交流是推动教育理论发展的重要力量。论以1979年至1991年间出版的5种《教育学》教材为本，通过对教材注释中的外国献分析和行中对国外教育家引用情况的实证研究，揭示了国外教育因素对我国当代《教育学》写作的影响呈不断增长趋势，说明中外教育交流在我国当代教育理论的构建中发挥了重要作用。     

国外教育研究方法的应用特征--基于2000-2019年34本教育学SSCI收录期刊的文献计量分析

以2000-2019年间34本教育学SSCI收录期刊发表的学术论文为研究对象,对国外教育研究方法的应用特征进行文献计量分析,结果发现,21世纪以来,国外教育研究方法的应用基本形成了以定量研究为主、质性研究紧随其后、混合研究占有一席之地的格局;因研究议题和学术共同体偏好的差异,具体方法的应用在教育研究的不同领域呈现不同样态;"方法从之于问题"的实用主义导向不断驱动国外教育研究方法应用的多样化。     

Using blogs in qualitative educational research: an exploration of method

When compared with wider social research, qualitative educational research has been relatively slow to take up online research methods (ORMs). There is some very notable research in the area but, in general, ORMs have not achieved wide applicability in qualitative educational contexts apart from research that is inherently linked to the Internet, for example, research on educational technologies or students' online behaviour. This paper demonstrates how ORMs can be useful in qualitative research projects. It describes how on-going, reflective, qualitative data were collected using a popular, community-based online tool – blogs. The research project that utilized this approach aimed to trace how a group of international students in the United Kingdom responded to their new environment over six months. This article attempts to provide a new understanding on the use of blogs as a tool for data collection.     

A Review of Multiple-Choice Item-Writing Guidelines for Classroom Assessment

A taxonomy of 31 multiple-choice item-writing guidelines was validated through a logical process that included two sources of evidence: the consensus achieved from reviewing what was found in 27 textbooks on educational testing and the results of 27 research studies and reviews published since 1990. This taxonomy is mainly intended for classroom assessment. Because textbooks have potential to educate teachers and future teachers, textbook writers are encouraged to consider these findings in future editions of their textbooks. This taxonomy may also have usefulness for developing test items for large-scale assessments. Finally, research on multiple-choice item writing is discussed both from substantive and methodological viewpoints.