An Investigation On The Use Of Mathematics Textbooks By Primary School Students

Textbooks are the most important,most direct,most far-reaching,and most exposed texts for students in the process of cultivating newcomers of the times.Students who are the direct users of textbooks,the depth and quality of their interaction with textbooks are recognized worldwide as important factors in achieving academic success.The feedback information of students using textbooks is not only an important reference for revising and improving textbooks,but also can effectively improve the quality of education and teaching."Compulsory Education Mathematics Curriculum Standards(2011 Edition)" pointed out that students in the second grade should actively participate in mathematics activities,and students learn how to effectively use mathematics textbooks to actively participate in mathematics activities.However,previous research has paid too much attention to teachers’ use of mathematics textbooks and neglected the research on students’ use of textbooks,which is contrary to the notion that students are the main body of textbook users.Therefore,this study focuses on the use of mathematics textbooks by fourth to sixth grade students in primary schools.This research adopts the literature method,questionnaire method and interview method.This study investigates from four aspects,namely,students’ attitude towards mathematics textbooks,students’ actual performance of using textbooks independently and under the guidance of teachers,the situation of teachers guiding students to use mathematics textbooks,and teachers and students’ subjective expectations of mathematics textbooks.The purpose of this research is to provide guidance for teachers and students to use mathematics textbooks,and to provide practical reference for optimizing textbook writing.First,based on relevant research at home and abroad,the author formulates a research framework based on the diamond model of textbook use,the model of students’ use of textbooks from the perspective of mediation theory,and the matrix of teachers’ adjustment of students’ use of textbooks summarized by German scholar Rezat.Secondly,I compiled questionnaires and interview outlines to develop research tools.At the same time,in order to enhance the scientific nature of the research tools,I invited a well-known expert in the field of mathematics,a provincial teaching and researcher,and two mathematics subject team leaders to repeatedly revise the research tools.Then,the validity of the research tool was verified in the pre-investigation of the questionnaire,and the questionnaires of students of three mathematics levels were selected and compared with the students’ actual use of mathematics textbooks.Thirdly,in this study,722 valid questionnaires were distributed and collected from two schools in W city,and 18 students with different mathematics levels were selected for interviews in three grades.The purpose of interviewing students is to find out the similarities and differences in the behavior of students with higher,middle and lower mathematics levels in using mathematics textbooks,and the data collected in this way are used as a supplement to the questionnaire survey.The study also conducted134-minute interviews with 8 mathematics teachers,in order to understand the different teachers’ guidance on students’ use of mathematics textbooks.Finally,I entered the questionnaire data into SPSS.26 and NVivo.11 and analyzed the collected data one by one by quantitative characterization and qualitative interpretation combined with the interview results.I summarize the actual situation,problems and reasons of students’ use of mathematics textbooks,and the conclusions are as follows:1.Research conclusionsFirst,the PPE version of the mathematics textbook brings students a better experience in using it.Students have a positive attitude towards using mathematics textbooks,but they do not pay enough attention to the function of mathematics language.Students’ self-directed use of math textbooks is poor,especially in the use of textbooks to review and consolidate after class.Students rely more on direct instruction from teachers using math textbooks.Second,students of different genders,grades,school categories,and mathematics levels have significant differences in their behavioral performance using the PPE version of mathematics textbooks.Third,different teachers have different degrees of guidance on the use of textbooks for students,with a single form,simple methods,and lack of systematisms and pertinence.Fourth,the stronger the students’ autonomy in using mathematics textbooks,the better the students’ use experience,and the better the use behaviors under the guidance of teachers.Fifth,students have expectations for the physical attributes,teaching attributes,and content attributes of the PPE version of mathematics textbooks,while teachers pay more attention to the content attributes of textbooks.2.Attribution AnalysisStudents: Students lack a sense of ownership in the autonomous use of math textbooks.Teachers: Teacher feedback on the use of mathematics textbooks by students is insufficient.Textbooks: The learning guidance function of textbooks cannot meet the needs of students at this stage.3.Countermeasures and suggestionsStudents need to improve the literacy of textbook use.First,students should enhance their awareness of actively using mathematics textbooks for learning;second,students should be familiar with the methods used in textbooks at different stages;third,students should correctly understand the function of mathematics language in textbooks.Teachers should strengthen the guidance and feedback on students’ use of textbooks.First,teachers need to awaken students’ sense of ownership and guide students to consciously communicate with mathematics textbooks.Second,teachers should cultivate students’ preview habits and guide the methods of preview.Third,teachers should formulate unified marking symbols and form a marking system to assist students in self-study.Fourth,teachers should pay attention to sorting and review,and guide students to draw mind maps.Fifth,teachers should provide guidance for students’ differences and stratification.Sixth,teachers should adopt multiple forms of teaching to help students understand mathematical concepts.Seventh,teachers should pay attention to the interests of students and pay attention to the teaching of expanding content.Mathematics textbooks need to optimize the learning guidance function of textbooks.First,mathematics textbooks can link current events when making propositions,which is beneficial for students to use in life,and mathematics textbooks should select question groups of different difficulty.Second,mathematics textbooks add pre-class questions before the unit to stimulate students’ desire for knowledge and add mind maps after the unit to help students clarify the knowledge system.Third,the knowledge points in mathematics textbooks supplement the history of mathematics,and more mathematics activities are designed to stimulate students’ thinking.Fourth,a blank space can be set after the exercises in the mathematics textbook to facilitate students to answer.Fifth,the teaching of arithmetic should be combined with the idea of equations to avoid the solidification of students’ thinking.