Research in science education has recognized the importance of textbooks for learning science effectively. In many parts of the world, for most science teachers at the secondary, high school, and introductory university level courses, the textbook is the only source of information and guide to classroom practice. Given this widespread use of textbooks in most educational systems, their evaluation for improvement is an integral part of the research agenda.
It is important to differentiate two types of approaches related to the evaluation of science textbooks that can be classified as:
- (a)
Domain-general: These studies are based on a series of criteria that can be used for evaluating whole textbooks across disciplines (biology, biochemistry, chemistry, earth science, physics, other). Some of the criteria are related to nature of science, scientific literacy, inquiry, analogies, photographs, gender, comprehensibility, readability, vocabulary load, graphical information, and cultural and...
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Niaz, M. (2014). Evaluation of Textbooks: Approaches and Consequences. In: Gunstone, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Science Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6165-0_387-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6165-0_387-3
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