A Comparative Study On The Content Compilation Characteristics Of Senior High School Chemistry Textbooks Between China And The United States

With the continuous development of educational reform,the need for internationalization of education and the need to cultivate outstanding talents,comparative study of teaching materials has occupied an increasingly important position in China.By combing through the history of changes in high school chemistry textbooks in China and the United States,we found that both countries’ textbooks have undergone a long period of change,which provides a good basis for textbook comparison.At the same time,combing the literature related to the comparison of teaching materials found a rich variety of research perspectives,for example,in terms of knowledge of teaching materials,images,columns,features of teaching materials,educational philosophy,and instructional design,etc.However,the studies that have been conducted do not give in-depth guidance in their conclusions as well as in their reflections because of the wide range of research.To this end,this study uses a questionnaire survey to investigate the current situation of teachers’ awareness of the characteristics of textbook development,and the analysis of the survey data reveals problems,thus narrowing the research perspective and deepening the research ideas of textbook comparison.In this study,the People’s Education Press of China published a high school chemistry textbook in 2019(referred to as the PEP textbook),and the Pearson Education Press of the United States published the second edition of standard level Chemistry(referred to as the IBC textbook)as the subjects of the study,and take the chemical reaction rate and chemical equilibrium as the research topic.Through literature combing and current survey research,the research dimensions and research ideas of this study were established: The primary dimensions are knowledge classification,knowledge contexts and knowledge processing;the secondary dimensions are declarative knowledge,procedural knowledge,life experience contexts,simulated association contexts,science history contexts,experimental inquiry contexts,production application contexts,processing of declarative knowledge and processing of procedural knowledge.After a comparative analysis of the dimensions of the material knowledge,a relatively well-developed instructional design fragment was obtained in response to the results of the analysis.By comparing the intellectual characteristics of the topics of chemical reaction rates and chemical equilibrium in the two editions of the textbook and taking the strengths and weaknesses of each,the following findings can be obtained:(1)In terms of knowledge classification: the total number of knowledge in both editions is 70,of which 45 are declarative knowledge and 25 are procedural knowledge in the PEP textbook,and 52 are declarative knowledge and 18 are procedural knowledge in the IBC textbook,with more declarative knowledge than procedural knowledge in both editions.(2)In terms of knowledge contexts: the total number of knowledge contexts is 20 in the PEP textbook and 36 in the IBC textbook.There are more knowledge contexts in the IBC textbook than in the PEP textbook,but in terms of the multiplicity of functions performed by knowledge contexts,the PEP textbook has the most triple-function knowledge contexts and the IBC textbook has the most dual-function knowledge contexts.(3)In terms of knowledge processing: the processing stages and teaching conditions of declarative knowledge in the two editions of the textbook were analyzed with the example of "definition of chemical reaction rate",and the processing stages and teaching conditions of procedural knowledge in the two editions of the textbook analyzed with the example of "calculation of chemical equilibrium constants".It can be found that the PEP textbook does not involve the consolidation and transfer stage when processing declarative knowledge and the automation stage when processing procedural knowledge.(4)Based on the results of the analysis of the knowledge dimensions of the two textbooks,the teaching design of "definition of chemical reaction rate" and "calculation of chemical equilibrium constant" was designed by combining the advantages of the two textbooks.The results we obtained show that in both editions of the textbook,there is more declarative knowledge than procedural knowledge,the IBC textbooks pay more attention to declarative knowledge,and the PEP textbook pays more attention to procedural knowledge.The IBC textbooks pay more attention to the construction of knowledge situations,and the selection of knowledge contexts in the PEP textbook is more scientific and reasonable.The IBC textbooks pay more attention to the integrity of the knowledge processing stage,and IBC textbooks pay more attention to the selection of teaching conditions.Based on the analysis of the two editions of the textbook,the following suggestions were made to the authors and users of the textbook: Textbook writers can strengthen the connection between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge in textbooks,Textbook writers should pay attention to the selection of knowledge contexts and provide targeted exercise questions in a timely manner.Users of textbooks can reasonably integrate the knowledge content and create various forms of activities.The innovation in this study is mainly reflected in the following three points: The rate of chemical reactions and chemical equilibrium is studied as a whole,Dynamic studies are combined with static studies during the research process and Based on the results of the study the corresponding instructional design fragments were designed.