A Comparative Study On The Content Structure Of "Principles Of Chemical Reactions" In Chinese And American Textbooks

The content structure of textbooks not only affects teachers’ teaching,but also affects students’ reading and learning.In this paper,we analyze and compare the content of chemical reaction principles in Chinese and American chemistry textbooks to provide some suggestions and references for the preparation of chemistry textbooks in China.First of all,by combing the domestic and foreign literature,this study divides the content of "Principles of Chemical Reactions" into three major topics,and then subdivides the three major topics into ten subsections to build a content distribution framework and a content structure analysis framework for Chinese and American textbooks,taking "sections" as the basic unit to build a content structure map.The content structure of the textbook is constructed by using "section" as the basic unit.The content structure of Chinese and American textbooks will be analyzed and compared from two levels: macro structure will be analyzed and compared from two dimensions: constructive thinking and content ordering;micro structure will be analyzed and compared from two dimensions: core knowledge and micro knowledge.Secondly,the following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis and comparison of the content structure of "Principles of Chemical Reactions" in Chinese and American textbooks using the holistic framework of the content structure of chemistry textbooks constructed in this study:(1)Both textbooks emphasize the introduction of experiments and the cultivation of disciplinary thinking,while the Chinese textbook takes into account the horizontal and vertical development of knowledge,and the American textbook focuses on the introduction through various examples in life and production.(2)The Chinese version of the textbook is based on progressive and multi-topic ordering,while the American version is based on single-topic and progressive ordering,reflecting the spiral arrangement of content that is important to both editions.(3)The number of core knowledge in the Chinese textbooks is more than that in the American textbooks,and the core knowledge in both editions is mainly descriptive knowledge,and the distribution ratio of core knowledge tends to be the same,presenting descriptive core knowledge > hierarchical core knowledge >explanatory core knowledge,which reflects the scientific nature of content construction.(4)The U.S.version of the textbook is mainly top-down in the ordering of knowledge,while the Chinese version of the textbook is mainly bottom-up,and the Chinese version of the textbook is more logical in the ordering of specific knowledge.The Chinese version of the textbook places emphasis on the combination of qualitative and quantitative elaboration of specific knowledge,while the American version of the textbook mostly stays in a qualitative perspective.