A Comparative Study Of Chinese And American Science Course Textbooks Based On STEM Framework

In the context of economic globalization in the 21 st century,STEM education has attracted the attention of many countries.As an important carrier of knowledge and a bridge connecting teachers and students,textbooks play a vital role in the development of STEM education.In recent years,more and more scholars in China have studied STEM education,but there are few studies on STEM education in textbooks,and the research on STEM education in science textbooks is still quite weak.Based on the STEM framework proposed by American scholar G.Yakman,this study uses literature research method and text analysis method to analyze and compare the sixth grade Chinese science textbooks,which published by Educational Science Press(here in after referred to as Educational Science Press textbooks)and the California science textbooks "SCIENCE_A CLOSER LOOK"(here in after referred to as SACL textbooks).The study found that:(1)From the view of textbook arrangement,the chapters and pages of SACL textbook are more than those of textbook edition.The overall content of SACL textbook and the column design of each class are very rich,reflecting the integration of STEM.Educational Science Press textbooks are simple in structure and single in column design.The compilation of textbooks pays more attention to S and T subjects.(2)As a whole,the number of STEM knowledge points in SACL textbooks is far more than that in Educational Science Press textbooks,which is five times larger than that in Educational Science Press textbooks;SACL textbooks attach more importance to S and T subjects in STEM,while Educational Science Press textbooks attach more importance to S and T subjects.The proportion of educational contents in E and M disciplines in the two editions of textbooks is less than 10%,which shows that China and the United States do not attach enough importance to these two fields.There are fewer overlapping knowledge points in Chinese and American textbooks,accounting for less than 10% of the total knowledge points.The overlapping knowledge points are concentrated in S and T disciplines,which shows that there are great differences in knowledge content setting between Chinese andAmerican textbooks.(3)According to the sub-dimension of each discipline of STEM,the coverage of knowledge points of SACL textbook in each sub-dimension of S discipline is more extensive than that of Educational Science Press textbooks,but the emphasis direction of the two countries undefined textbooks is basically the same as that of the textbook of the two countries as a whole.The knowledge points of the sub-dimension of SACL textbook in each sub-dimension of T discipline is more abundant than those of Educational Science Press textbooks.The contents of the teaching materials of the two countries are deficient in three aspects: agriculture,communication and transportation.China and the United States teaching materials E,M subject number of knowledge points are less,knowledge point coverage is not rich enough.The research proves that the content of SACL textbook is richer than that of textbook edition,and more attention is paid to the integration of STEM.Both editions of the textbooks attach great importance to S and T disciplines,but pay little attention to E and M disciplines.The knowledge setting of the two editions of textbooks is not balanced enough.Based on the above research,some suggestions are put forward as follows: 1.Chinese textbooks should be enriched in content arrangement,and the depth and difficulty of textbooks should be increased appropriately.2.The setting of textbooks should pay attention to the integration of STEM knowledge.3.Chinese textbooks should increase the number of knowledge points and pay attention to the balance of knowledge points in various disciplines.4.Chinese textbooks should pay attention to the balance of knowledge points in the next dimension of various disciplines and improve the hierarchy of knowledge.