Reading comprehension in primary school: textbooks, curriculum and assessment

This study describes the reading comprehension processes present in the most widely sold textbooks at the fourth grade level in Portugal and discusses how they compare to international assessments of reading literacy. We adopted the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study framework to categorize the questions in the textbooks. Our analyses revealed that they focus heavily on the retrieval of explicitly stated information to the detriment of higher level comprehension skills. Portuguese fourth grade textbooks rarely challenge students to make connections between their knowledge and the ideas in the texts and to adopt a critical and evaluative reading stance. This is in sharp contrast to what students are asked to do in the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study, conducted every five years since 2001, and it may help explain the poor results Portuguese students have in national assessment and in PISA. The findings are discussed in light of the curriculum frameworks currently adopted in Portugal and suggestions are made as to how we can improve reading literacy achievement.

The Didactic Transposition of the Photoelectric Effect in High School Brazilian Physics Textbooks

É notório que o livro didático desempenha um papel fundamental na prática pedagógica da maioria dos professores de Física constituindo importante fonte de referência para professores e estudantes. Ao mesmo tempo representa a memória impressa das demandas e paradigmas de ensino, e procura atender às exigências prescritas na legislação e diretrizes, de uma determinada localidade e período. Atualmente, a inserção de Física Moderna e Contemporânea no currículo do Ensino Médio brasileiro está entre as prioridades, preconizando, entre. outros, o ensino do efeito fotoelétrico, em função da relevância do fenômeno ao corroborar a interpretação corpuscular da natureza da luz, e o consequente laureio de Albert Einstein com o Prêmio Nobel. Estudos realizados apontam que muitos dos livros didáticos apresentam a história do efeito fotoelétrico de maneira superficial ou errônea, e expõem incorretamente a função trabalho e o conceito de fóton (Klassen, 2011). Tendo em vista o exposto, objetivamos analisar como ocorre a apresentação do efeito fotoelétrico especificamente em dez coleções didáticas brasileiras aprovadas pelo Programa Nacional do Livro Didático do Ensino Médio 2012 do governo federal, tendo como aporte teórico as considerações de Yves Chevallard (Brockington e Pietrocola, 2005). Procuramos resposta para a seguinte pergunta: Quais são as transposições ocorridas na apresentação do efeito fotoelétrico (saber sábio) para se tornar o saber a ensinar em materiais escolares? Nossa análise centrou-se no processo de descontextualização, entendido como o processo pelo qual o saber sábio passa para que seja ensinável, sendo necessário que seja arrancado de seu contexto original, ou seja, o seu processo histórico.

INVESTIGATING THE PRESENCE OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN UNIVERSITY GENERAL CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS

INVESTIGATING THE PRESENCE OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN UNIVERSITY GENERAL CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS. This paper aims at analyzing the history of science content of three general chemistry textbooks used in Brazilian universities: the translations of Kotz and Treichel's Chemistry & Chemical Reactivity, Atkins and Jones's Chemical Principles, and Garritz and Chamizo's Quimica. Results revealed different trends for the inclusion of history of science in chemistry teaching. Katz & Treichel and Atkins & Jones used history mainly as curiosity and ornament. Garritz & Chamizo adopted the historical approach as one of the organizing axis of their textbook. Nevertheless, the historical content of the three textbooks may be criticized from current historiographical standpoint.

Chemistry and Chemical Education Through Text and Image: Analysis of Twentieth Century Textbooks Used in Brazilian Context

Assuming that textbooks give literary expression to cultural and ideological values of a nation or group, we propose the analysis of chemistry textbooks used in Brazilian universities throughout the twentieth century. We analyzed iconographic and textual aspects of 31 textbooks which had significant diffusion in the context of Brazilian universities at that period. As a result of the iconographic analysis, nine categories of images were proposed: (1) laboratory and experimentation, (2) industry and production, (3) graphs and diagrams, (4) illustrations related to daily life, (5) models, (6) illustrations related to the history of science, (7) pictures or diagrams of animal, vegetable or mineral samples, (8) analogies and (9) concepts of physics. The distribution of images among the categories showed a different emphasis in the presentation of chemical content due to a commitment to different conceptions of chemistry over the period. So, we started with chemistry as an experimental science in the early twentieth century, with an emphasis change to the principles of chemistry from the 1950s, culminating in a chemistry of undeniable technological influence. Results showed that reflections not only on the history of science, but on the history of science education, may be useful for the improvement of science education.

The basic concepts of mathematics; a companion to current textbooks on algebra and analytic geometry.

pt.1. Algebra.

International library of technology; a series of textbooks for persons engaged in the engineering professions and trades,

Mode of access: Internet.

College textbooks; a classified listing of 16,000 textbooks used in 60 colleges, coded to show most frequently used texts and texts used in general courses, and in several departments of instruction.

Mode of access: Internet.

Bibliography of textbooks and journals on statistics and statistical quality control.

"Compiled by a task group under the chairmanship of E. J. Delate."

Catalogue of high-school and college textbooks : including a complete index and price list.

Mode of access: Internet.

I. C. S. reference library; a series of textbooks prepared for the students of the International correspondence schools, and containing in permanent form the instruction papers, examination questions, and keys used in their various courses.

Elements of Pen and Ink Rendering--Rendering with Pen and Brush--Elements of Water-Color Rendering--Rendering in Water Color--Drawing from Nature--Drawing from Cast--Elements of Figure Drawing--Drawing from the Figure.

The growth of organized labor in American history; a study of high school textbooks.

Problem, plan B (M. S. in Ed.) - Cornell University, 1949.