Curriculum Reform Movements and Science Textbooks: A Retrospective Examination of 6th Grade Science Textbooks

Muhammet Mustafa Alpaslan; Bugrahan Yalvac; Cathleen C. Loving

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a

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Muhammet Mustafa Alpaslan ¹ ² ^* , Bugrahan Yalvac ¹, Cathleen C. Loving ¹

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¹ Texas A&M University, USA² Mugla Sitki Kocman University, TURKEY^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Over 50 years, two major reform efforts in science education took place. The purpose of the present study is to explore how the educational reforms were reflected in nine 6th grade science textbooks published in 1975, in 1985 and in 1997 in terms of (a) the materials used, (b) the contexts to which the electricity concept was related, (c) the type of student activities, and (d) the domain of learning objectives dealing with text activities. For the analysis, a checklist was developed. Our findings show that the concept of teaching electricity has moved from transmitting a body of knowledge and the discipline of science orientation to a more social learning and a student centered pedagogical orientation.

Keywords

textbook analysis
history of science education
science textbooks
science education reforms

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2015, Volume 11, Issue 2, 207-216

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a

Publication date: 02 Apr 2015

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How to cite this article

APA

Alpaslan, M. M., Yalvac, B., & Loving, C. C. (2015). Curriculum Reform Movements and Science Textbooks: A Retrospective Examination of 6th Grade Science Textbooks. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(2), 207-216. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a

Vancouver

Alpaslan MM, Yalvac B, Loving CC. Curriculum Reform Movements and Science Textbooks: A Retrospective Examination of 6th Grade Science Textbooks. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2015;11(2):207-16. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a

AMA

Alpaslan MM, Yalvac B, Loving CC. Curriculum Reform Movements and Science Textbooks: A Retrospective Examination of 6th Grade Science Textbooks. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2015;11(2), 207-216. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a

Chicago

Alpaslan, Muhammet Mustafa, Bugrahan Yalvac, and Cathleen C. Loving. "Curriculum Reform Movements and Science Textbooks: A Retrospective Examination of 6th Grade Science Textbooks". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2015 11 no. 2 (2015): 207-216. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a

Harvard

Alpaslan, M. M., Yalvac, B., and Loving, C. C. (2015). Curriculum Reform Movements and Science Textbooks: A Retrospective Examination of 6th Grade Science Textbooks. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(2), pp. 207-216. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a

MLA

Alpaslan, Muhammet Mustafa et al. "Curriculum Reform Movements and Science Textbooks: A Retrospective Examination of 6th Grade Science Textbooks". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 11, no. 2, 2015, pp. 207-216. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1316a