The role of the textbook

Ph.D. Alysson Ramos Artuso

Textbooks

• Present in almost every classroom

• Part of scholar culture

• Main resource• Kaleidoscope• Editorial terms

Textbooks

• Themes/Context

• How are the textbooks used by teachers and students in High School?

• What do they expect from the textbooks?

Goals

• Identify the qualities of a textbook according to students

• Identify the students’ favorite themes and focus

• Recognize differences among subsets

International researchesTextbook should be (according US HS students)Easier to understand/less confusing 23.2%More interesting 22.6%Not be used as the main resource 18.9%Contain more examples 14.0%Have color coded main ideas 4.9%More complicated 3.7%Updated 3.7%Contain shorter chapters 3.0%Contain more pictures 2.4%Lighter/softback 1.8%Allowed to highlight books 1.2%They are fine the way they are 0.6%

(SCHUMM, VAUGHN, SAUMELL; 1992, p. 494)

Important qualities (according European HS students)Discret/iconic text 83.9Structured texts with highlighted key concepts >50Images 50Recap exercises 38.3Electronic textbooks 25

(NOGOVA; 2009, p. 561-2)

International researches

Student selection of the Textbook for an Introductory Physics Course• Price• Size• Weight• Many examples• Small problems that

illustrated a single concept• “Real-world” examples• Casual, conversational

writing style

• Do not like the use of many different fonts, too much color, or overly busy formats (like two-column format)

• Only essential pictures • Highlighted equations and key

points • Ancillary materials (such as

CDs, websites, and study guides) are generally not used or valued

(DAKE, 2007, p. 148)

Methodology

• Survey with 352 Brazilian high school students

Variables

Qualities of a textbook (14)• Without misconceptions• Abstracts and diagrams• Short texts focused on content• Enjoyable text• Advanced content• Many images• Digital multimedia content• Group discussions and tasks• Not heavy…

Themes and focus (23)• Admission test exercises• Easy experiments• Demonstrations• Nature and environment• Human body and health• Daily situations• Cartoons and comics• Mathematical focus• Sports• Biographies…

Results – Qualities of a textbook

Results – Themes and focus I

Results – Themes and focus II

Results – Subset differences

• There is almost no difference about region• There are statistical differences in age, type of

school and genre.– Age: • Older students are more interesting in themes that

could be useful in their lives– Type of school: • Exercises are more important in private school• Images, links, digital content and group discussions and

tasks are more important in public school

Genre differences

Conclusions

• Brazilian results are similar to international results

• Less important qualities:– Not heavy– Group discussions and tasks– Digital content

• Most important qualities:– Without misconceptions– Abstracts and diagrams

Conclusions

• Less important themes:– Biographies and historical context– Newspaper and magazine articles– Group activities

• Most important themes:– Enem and admission test exercises

• Main differences:– Genre, type of school and age

References• DAKE, L. S. Student selection of the Textbook for an

Introductory Physics Course. The Pyshics Teacher, v. 45, p. 416-419, oct. 2007.

• NOVOGA, M. Which learning media do students prefer?. In: RODRÍGUEZ, J. R.; HORSLEY, M.; KNUDSEN, Susanne V. (Org.). Local, national and transnational identities in textbooks and educational media. Santiago de Compostela (ES): IARTEM, 2011, p. 557-563.

• SCHUMM, J.; VAUGHN, S.; SAUMELL, L. What teachers do when the textbook is tough: students speak out. Journal of Reading Behavior, v. 24, n. 4, p. 481-503, 1992.

Thank you!