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Analysis of High School Chemistry Textbooks Used in Iran for Representations of Nature of Science

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Abstract

This report includes the analysis of three chemistry textbooks in high schools in Iran for representation of nature of science (NOS). The analysis was framed by an analytical tool developed and validated by Abd-El-Khalick and a team of researchers in a large-scale study on the high school textbooks in the USA. The results indicated that NOS aspects of empirical, inferential and social dimensions of science were the most cited in all the three textbooks. The results revealed particularly, the aspects such as tentative, myth of scientific method and scientific theories were less mentioned and have not been addressed in all three textbooks. Generally, the textbooks fared poorly in their representations of NOS. The findings of this work are incommensurate with the strong emphasis in a reformed school science curriculum that underlies the need for learners to understand the scientific enterprise, and how scientific knowledge develops. The results of this study reinforce the need for a review on the mandate given to textbook publishers and writers so that a stronger focus be placed on the development of materials that better represent the tenets of NOS in educational content related to the chemistry textbooks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

    Ebrahim Zarei

  2. Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

    Roghayeh Hossein Nia

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  1. Ebrahim Zarei
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Correspondence to Ebrahim Zarei.

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Zarei, E., Hossein Nia, R. Analysis of High School Chemistry Textbooks Used in Iran for Representations of Nature of Science. Interchange 54, 253–270 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-023-09490-y

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