| Abstract: | Science textbooks are frequently used to convey a great deal of the information that students receive in science courses. They influence how science teachers organize the curriculum and how students perceive the scientific enterprise. An overreliance on these teaching aids often results in an overemphasis on terminology and vocabulary, and presents a false impression of the nature of science. As a result of their importance, a method was developed to assess the curricular emphasis in science textbooks. The procedure is explained in a 25-page manual to train researchers to determine the relative emphasis that has been given to (a) science as a body of knowledge, (b) science as a way of investigating, (c) science as a way of thinking, and (d) the interaction among science, technology, and society. Textbooks in the areas of life science, earth science, physical science, biology, and chemistry were used in the analyses. Interrater agreements of at least 80% and kappas of at least 0.73 were achieved in the content analyses among two experienced researchers and one science teacher who were given the training manual to learn the assessment procedure. |
