A Comparative Study On The Part Of "Molecular And Cell" In The High School Biology Textbooks Between Chinese And American

The paper took comparative research on high school biology textbook published by People’s Education Press and biology:the dynamics of life published by McGraw-Hill. The research focused on molecular and cell in the books, expecting to expand international perspective of textbooks’research. The thesis used mathematics model to calculate the difficulty of textbook. Based on the quantitative research, the research compared the characteristics of the textbooks to provide a reference for the construction of the textbooks. Meanwhile, the thesis compared the student activities between two set books to improve the design of the student activities in the books. In the end, the paper gave the inspiration and suggestions on textbooks.The study established a formula for calculating the textbooks based on the classification method on educational objectives applied in the study launched by Bloom. And the statistics on teaching materials were carried out from both knowledge dimension and comprehension dimension. According to the different level, the knowledge was valued differently. Comparative study was completed from knowledge dimension and comprehension dimension quantitatively. And the methodology of comparison was used in analysis of student activities in the textbooks, from the perspective of the type, quantity, the design of content and the structure of the activities.Results of the study have revealed several defects in biology textbook currently used in Chinese high schools. It was demonstrated that the difficulty ranks relatively low. The design of the textbook from knowledge dimension and comprehensive dimension were similar, but the amount of procedural knowledge is relatively more, while the amount of applicable knowledge in the textbook is relatively small. Besides, the assessment system in the textbook has not been well established, which embodies in the relatively small amount and few types of exercises. Another finding of this study is that the focus of the student activities in the biology textbook for high school. The amount of the activities and its type are too many to inquiry in high school, and lack of systemic design in content. In addition, the research also found some common features. The materials were designed concerns the combination of learners and the system of knowledge. The textbooks develop students’scientific literacy by designing different activities, and focus on the relationship with social reality. Vocational education was penetrated in the books as well.In the study, quantitative and qualitative researches were both carried, and difficulty formula was creatively used to calculate the degree of difficulty of the textbooks. The comprehensive research has been carried out in the part of "Molecular and Cell".On the base of the study, we get the inspiration and suggestion for the textbooks in China. The teaching material should concern the integration of interdisciplinary content on the base of subject. The application of the knowledge should be strengthened. The content of activities should be selected carefully. And scientific methodology could be given importance. The evaluation system of teaching materials could be strengthened. And the modernization content should be increased in the textbooks.