A Study On The Quality Of Primary School Science Textbook Illustrations

Textbooks are an expression of the national will and an important resource for teachers and students to teach and learn.As a key element of textbooks,the quality of illustrations directly affects the quality of textbooks.In recent years,the use of illustrations in elementary school science textbooks has increased significantly,and the status of illustrations has been rising,while at the same time,the problems of illustrations have gradually become apparent.At present,the research on textbook quality in China is not sufficient and systematic,and the research on the quality of illustrations in textbooks is especially lacking.In addition,elementary school science textbooks are rich in illustrations,and their role in students’ learning cannot be ignored,so the quality of illustrations must be guaranteed.In order to better address this issue,this study will focus on the overall quality of primary science textbook illustrations,the specific quality of primary science textbook illustrations,and the differences in the quality of primary science textbooks across school levels.The specific research includes constructing a framework for analyzing the quality of elementary science textbook illustrations;using the analytical framework to analyze the quality of textbook illustrations,and trying to provide theoretical references for the improvement of the quality of elementary science textbook illustrations.This study mainly adopts the literature analysis method,expert consultation method,and content analysis method.First,we analyzed and summarized textbook illustration quality analysis frameworks in various disciplines through literature analysis,and initially developed an analysis framework for primary science textbook illustration quality by referring to relevant documents and policies and science curriculum standards;second,we revised and improved the preliminary quality analysis framework through expert consultation to obtain a primary science textbook illustration quality analysis framework with expert validity.The final quality analysis framework consisted of functional orientation,presentation,physical characteristics and content selection,and then the four primary dimensions were subdivided into 19 operational secondary dimensions;finally,the content analysis method was used to code the illustrations according to their positions in the textbooks,and the quality of primary science textbook illustrations for grades 1-6 was analyzed based on the constructed quality analysis framework for primary science textbook illustrations.The quality of illustrations in primary science textbooks for grades 1-6 was analyzed.Through the analysis of the quality of the illustrations in elementary school science textbooks,the following conclusions were obtained: first,the overall quality of the illustrations in elementary school science textbooks is good,and there is no significant difference in the specific quality of the illustrations in each grade;second,the functional orientation of the illustrations is of high quality and reflects the significant characteristics of the school grades.Third,the quality of the presentation of illustrations is low,and the proportion of illustrations in each dimension is not reasonable,which shows that the proportion of illustrations presented alone and with headings is too high,and the proportion of illustrations presented in combination is too low;fourth,the physical characteristics of illustrations Fourth,the overall quality of illustrations is high,but the proportion of illustrations synchronized with the text is low;fifth,the inquisitiveness of illustration content selection needs to be improved,and the timeliness is not enough.To improve the quality of elementary school science textbook illustrations,this study proposes the following specific suggestions: first,to use organizational and explanatory illustrations to cultivate students’ scientific concepts;second,to increase the proportion of illustrations presented in combination,thus improving the presentation of illustrations;third,to ensure the synchronization of illustrations and texts to promote the occurrence of meaningful learning among students;fourth,to focus on the inquisitiveness of illustrations and highlight their topicality.