A Comparative Study Of The Content Of Old And New High School Chemistry Textbooks Based On Triple Representations

The Standards for the Chemistry Curriculum of General High Schools(2017 Edition and 2020 Revision)clearly states that students should develop the core competencies of chemistry in "macro identification and micro analysis".The literacy of "macro identification and microscopic exploration" is one of the core competencies that can fully reflect the characteristics of chemistry,and triple representation thinking,as a unique way of thinking in chemical science,means that students can freely transform between macro,micro and symbol,and cultivating triple representation thinking is conducive to allowing students to deeply understand the relationship between macro,micro and symbol,and then better promote the development of students’ "macro identification and micro exploration",which reflects the core literacy of chemistry discipline.Textbooks are an important medium for teaching and educating people,and an in-depth study of how the triple representation is highlighted in textbooks is beneficial to the development of core literacy in chemistry.In this study,we take "ionic reactions" and "elements and their compounds" in the old and new high school chemistry textbooks as examples,and conduct an in-depth analysis of the triple representation thinking in the two textbooks respectively.Firstly,the current status of research on triple representation,high school chemistry textbooks,ionic reactions and elements and their compounds is reviewed and collated.Secondly,the content requirements of "ionic reactions" and "elements and their compounds" in the old and new high school chemistry curriculum standards were compared and analyzed,and then the three aspects of textbook content arrangement,content selection and presentation of core concepts were examined.A detailed analysis of the triple representation and presentation of the text under the content of "ionic reactions" and "elements and their compounds" in the old and new high school chemistry textbooks was then carried out.Based on the results of the analysis,it is found that there are significant differences between the two versions of the curriculum standards that correspond to the old and new textbooks.The new textbooks are based on curriculum standards that have changed the previous concept of emphasizing knowledge over literacy,and have placed more emphasis on the development of students’ core literacy in chemistry.In terms of content arrangement,the new textbook’s chapter on "Ionic Reactions" places more emphasis on the interface between junior and senior secondary knowledge,and the section on "Elements and their Compounds",taking sodium and chlorine as examples,is arranged in a way that reflects the close connection between chemistry and human production and life.The new textbook focuses on the close connection between chemistry and human production and life.In terms of content selection,the choice of content for "ionic reactions" is basically the same in both old and new textbooks.In the selection of content related to the metal element sodium and the non-metal element chlorine,the number of experiments and the format of the experiments have been reduced and changed compared to the old textbook.In terms of the presentation of core knowledge,the presentation of the core knowledge of ionic reactions in the new textbook is more focused on the combination of the "macro-micro-narrative" triple representation,and more emphasis is placed on the use of real-life scenarios and clear diagrams to develop and train students’ triple The content is presented with a greater emphasis on the combination of ’macro-micro-notation’.For the presentation of the core knowledge of ’sodium and its compounds’ and ’chlorine and its compounds’,the new textbooks make better use of macroscopic representations to lay the foundation of rational understanding for the learning of triple representations,but in this part,the presentation of microscopic representations and the integration of triple representations are not well understood in both editions.In this section,however,the presentation of micro-representations and the integration of triple representations could be strengthened in both editions.Finally,based on the results of the comparative analysis,conclusions are drawn and several suggestions are made for the use of the new textbooks:create realistic situations to stimulate students’ interest in learning;update the mode of training students and encourage them to explore their own learning;and focus on the development of a triple representation mindset.