A Study On Overseas Textbooks Of Chemistry From The Perspective Of Constructivism

As the foundation of teaching and learning, textbook is the key factor to the implementation of curriculum. So how to design a good textbook is the most important issue to address in new curriculum reform. The design of textbook is largely determined by the philosophy of education. Therefore, what kind of educational philosophy to believe becomes the necessary prerequisite for textbook design. Based on the cognitive learning theory, the constructivist learning theory regards cultivating scientific literacy as its goal and it has been popular in science education since the end of 20th century. It is meaningful to make an exhaustive study on overseas textbook of chemistry from the perspective of Constructivism. Comparing the textbooks of chemistry in America, Australia and Canada with relevant textbooks of chemistry in our country, I find that there are some striking characteristics in overseas textbooks of chemistry:The logical structure of theoretic knowledge is complete and coherent;The cognition shows spiral development;The process and method of chemistry study has been presented in the arrangement ofcontent;The design of situations will facilitate constructivist learning;The textbook pays more attention to help students grasp chemistry learning strategy. By comparison and analysis, I draw some conclusions as follows:1. Whether the textbook have a complete structure of subject is the prerequisite for implementing constructivist learning;2. The design of the textbook should take the process and methods of scientific research as the internal guideline;3. The design of the textbook should facilitate teacher's comprehension about textbook;4. The textbook should help students establish an open structure of knowledge anddevelop self-development capability.