Science and technology are constantly transforming our day-to-day living. Science education has become of vital importance to prepare learners for this everchanging world. Unfortunately, science education in South Africa is hampered by under-qualified and inexperienced teachers. Textbooks of good quality can assist teachers and learners and facilitate the development of science teachers. For this reason thorough assessment of textbooks is needed to inform the selection of good textbooks. An investigation revealed that the available textbook evaluation instruments are not suitable for the evaluation of the physical science textbooks in the South African context. An instrument is needed that focusses on science education textbooks and which prescribes the criteria, weights, evaluation procedure and rating scheme that can ensure justifiable, transparent, reliable and valid evaluation results. This study utilised elements from the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop such an instrument and verified the reliability and validity of the instrument’s evaluation results. Development of the Instrument for the Evaluation of Science Education Textbooks started with the formulation of criteria. Characteristics that influence the quality of textbooks were identified from literature, existing evaluation instruments and stakeholders’ concerns. In accordance with the AHP, these characteristics or criteria were divided into categories or branches to give a hierarchical structure. Subject experts verified the content validity of the hierarchy. Expert science teachers compared the importance of different criteria. The data were used to derive weights for the different criteria with the Expert Choice computer application. A rubric was formulated to act as rating-scheme and score sheet. During the textbook evaluation process the ratings were transferred to a spreadsheet that computed the scores for the quality of a textbook as a whole as well as for the different categories. The instrument was tested on small scale, adjusted and then applied on a larger scale. The results of different analysts were compared to verify the reliability of the instrument. Triangulation with the opinions of teachers who have used the textbooks confirmed the validity of the evaluation results obtained with the instrument. Future investigations on the evaluation instrument can include the use of different rating scales and limiting of criteria. / Thesis (M. Ed. (Didactics))

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The aim of this study was to examine middle school science textbooks according to some criteria in terms of nature of science (NOS). A total of three middle school science textbooks in 6th, 7th and 8th grade and two biology units were analyzed in each textbook. In the 6th grade science textbooks, Reproduction, Development and Growth in Living Beingsand Systems in Our Body units, in the 7th grade science textbook, Systems in Our Body and Human and Environment units, in the 8th grade science textbook, Cell Division and Heredity and Livings and Energy Relationships units were analyzed by using Nature of Science Criteria, adapted from Gunckel&amp / #8217 / s (2004) study. The instrument consists of 3 categories, 9 criteria and 28 indicators. The categories are: Science as Authoritative Knowledge, Science as Understanding Phenomena and Science as the Social Construction of Knowledge. A qualitative oriented approach was performed and content analysis method was used to assess the science textbooks. Data were analyzed by percentage and frequency analysis. Reliability was calculated by Cohen&amp / #8217 / s Kappa and the value 0,71 which was found is reliable. The results of this study revealed that the three science textbooks inadequately presented the nature of science categories. It was also found that the percentages of almost all the indicators were under fifty. The textbooks presented the science as authoritative knowledge category relatively higher than the other two categories. The science as the sociocultural construction of knowledge category was portrayed less than the other two categories.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the rhetoric of the Creationist-evolutionist textbook controversy. In Chapter II, Leland Griffin's approach to the study of historical movements was used concomitantly with Thomas Kuhn's ideas concerning scientific revolution to explore the first research question: What changes have occurred in the persuasive success rate of the Creationists' textbook battle as it has moved from its stance of "the good versus the evil" toward the stance of the scientist, (including scientific methods of reasoning and observation)?Chapter III explored the second research question: Do the new persuasive tactics, the use of scientific vocabulary, grammar, and forms of argument, provide more effective persuasive persuasive methods than did the earlier approaches. This chapter examined the evolutionary content of secondary school biology textbooks, and in particular, estimated the impact of change in Creationist persuasive tactics used since 1968 upon the content and marketing of secondary biology textbooks. The textbook studies supported the contention that the bifurcated movement has been highly successful. Evolutionary coverage has decreased in biology textbooks since 1968 while biblical creation has seen a definite increase.Currently, however, the two Creationist fronts face a new challenge as their polar views have been observed together in recent legal battles. This polarity in approach has already proven detrimental to the Creationists in recent trials. Chapter IV discussed the implications of this bifurcation of the Creationist Movement. Further, the implications of the current rhetorical crisis were examined. It was recommended that research be continued examining the rhetorical strategies used by the Creationists since 1963. Also, further research in the area of textbook analysis was deemed necessary. / Department of Speech Communication

abstract: Biology textbooks are everybody's business. In accepting the view that texts are created with specific social goals in mind, I examined 127 twentieth-century high school biology textbooks for representations of animal development. Paragraphs and visual representations were coded and placed in one of four scientific literacy categories: descriptive, investigative, nature of science, and human embryos, technology, and society (HETS). I then interpreted how embryos and fetuses have been socially constructed for students. I also examined the use of Haeckel's embryo drawings to support recapitulation and evolutionary theory. Textbooks revealed that publication of Haeckel's drawings was influenced by evolutionists and anti-evolutionists in the 1930s, 1960s, and the 1990s. Haeckel's embryos continue to persist in textbooks because they "safely" illustrate similarities between embryos and are rarely discussed in enough detail to understand comparative embryology's role in the support of evolution. Certain events coincided with changes in how embryos were presented: (a) the growth of the American Medical Association (AMA) and an increase in birth rates (1950s); (b) the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) and public acceptance of birth control methods (1960s); (c) Roe vs. Wade (1973); (d) in vitro fertilization and Lennart Nilsson's photographs (1970s); (e) prenatal technology and fetocentrism (1980s); and (f) genetic engineering and Science-Technology-Society (STS) curriculum (1980s and 1990s). By the end of the twentieth century, changing conceptions, research practices, and technologies all combined to transform the nature of biological development. Human embryos went from a highly descriptive, static, and private object to that of sometimes contentious public figure. I contend that an ignored source for helping move embryos into the public realm is schoolbooks. Throughout the 1900s, authors and publishers accomplished this by placing biology textbook embryos and fetuses in several different contexts--biological, technological, experimental, moral, social, and legal. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Biology 2010

Since the publication of the National Science Education Standards in 1996 efforts have been made to include inquiry into school science programs. An addendum on inquiry to these standards was published in 2000 presenting five essential features of classroom inquiry as indicators of the active use of inquiry in a science lesson. The purpose of this content analysis was to examine and identify the presence of these five essential features of classroom inquiry within publisher-identified inquiry activities found in the 2000 and 2010 teacher's editions of the third grade science textbooks published by Scott Foresman. The textbooks were read and coded using each of the five essential features of classroom inquiry as a priori categories. Data from both textbook editions indicated that although these activities were identified as inquiries, only a few contained all five essential features, while about half contained none. Approximately half of the publisher-identified inquiries were partial inquiries, containing less than five of the essential features. Teachers who use these resources should be aware of the presence or lack of the essential features in order to supplement the science curriculum. Publishers need to be more explicit in including these features and further research should be conducted in more textbooks to better understand the quality and quantity of inquiry activities found within these resources.

The goal of the most recent science education reform movement in the U.S. is science literacy for all Americans. Science literacy among U.S. students remains low, however, as compared with students in other industrialized countries, and is lowest among English Language Learner (ELL) students. Although there are barriers to developing science literacy for all adolescent students, ELL students often experience additional barriers that make developing science literacy even more challenging without support. Because textbooks are often heavily relied upon by secondary science teachers, the opportunity for many ELLs to develop science literacy may depend upon the support for these students included in science textbooks. Many textbook publishers have included textual tools for teaching ELLs in the teacher's editions of science textbooks they claim will help teachers support the learning of ELLs in the ways that are recommended by national standards, which describe appropriate science content, pedagogy, and language supports. These standards, referred to in this study as ELL standards, include the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, the CREDE standards, the WIDA standards, and the TIMSS standards. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative content analysis was to determine how the textual tools for teaching ELLs found in three widely used secondary biology textbooks in the U.S. are aligned with the ELL standards. All textual tools were read, reread, and coded using the ELL standards as a priori coding categories. The results indicate that some of the textual tools in the biology textbooks align with the ELL standards. However, the frequency of alignment between the textual tools and the ELL standards is not high. Further, many of the instances of alignment between the textual tools and the ELL standards are implicit, rather than explicit, indicating that the alignment between them is weak. Finally, many of the textual tools that are aligned with the ELL standards are only aligned with one of the categories within a given standard and ignore other, important, categories. It is recommended that textbook publishers update the textual tools for teaching ELLs in future editions of their textbooks to make them more aligned with the ELL standards. It is further recommended that secondary science teachers be better prepared so they will not have to rely on the textual tools for teaching ELLs in their instruction.

Test items supplied with seven textbooks approved for use in Computer Science I and II curricula in Texas public schools were categorized by Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Eating was done by a panel of ten judges selected from a group of participants at a taxonomy workshop. The selection criterion was demonstration of at least 80 percent competency in item classification. Judges received a small stipend for completing the rating task. Of 2020 possible items, 998 were randomly selected for analysis. Equal percentages of items from each text were then randomly assigned to each rater. All statistical analyses were computed using SPSS/PC+ (version 2.1). In both courses, CLD frequencies decreased through the three lower levels. The percentage of questions falling in these levels was approximately 83 percent for both courses. However, the higher-level course contained almost 10 percent more Knowledge level questions than did the lower course. At the higher taxonomic levels, the decline was roughly five percent per level in CS I but erratic in CS II. Analysis by book also revealed wide differences within each course.

abstract: The finite supply of current energy production materials has created opportunities for the investigation of alternative energy sources in many fields. One example is the use of microorganisms in bioenergy applications, such as microbial fuel cells. Present in many types of environments, microorganisms with the ability to respire solid electron acceptors have become of increasing relevance to alternative energy and wastewater treatment research. In this dissertation, several aspects of anode respiration are investigated, with the goal of increasing the limited understanding of the mechanisms of electron transport through the use of advanced electrochemical methods. Biofilms of Geobacter sulfurreducens, the model anode respiring organism, as well as its alkaliphilic relative, Geoalkalibacter ferrihydriticus, were investigated using chronoamperometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. In G. sulfurreducens, two distinct pathways of electron transport were observed through the application of advanced electrochemical techniques on anode biofilms in microbial electrochemical cells. These pathways were found to be preferentially expressed, based on the poised anode potential (redox potential) of the electrode. In Glk. ferrihydriticus, four pathways for electron transport were found, showing an even greater diversity in electron transport pathway utilization as compared to G. sulfurreducens. These observations provide insights into the diversity of electron transport pathways present in anode-respiring bacteria and introduce the necessity of further characterization for pathway identification. Essential to science today, communication of pressing scientific issues to the lay audience may present certain difficulties. This can be seen especially with the topics that are considered socio-scientific issues, those considered controversial in society but not for scientists. This dissertation explores the presentation of alternative and renewable energy technologies and climate change in undergraduate education. In introductory-level Biology, Chemistry, and Physics textbooks, the content and terminology presented were analyzed for individual textbooks and used to evaluate discipline-based trends. Additional extensions were made between teaching climate change with the active learning technique of citizen science using past research gains from studies of evolution. These observations reveal patterns in textbook content for energy technologies and climate change, as well as exploring new aspects of teaching techniques. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biological Design 2016

En convoquant le concept de double médiation, cognitive et didactico-pédagogique, définie par Lenoir (1995), nous avons été amenée à présenter le manuel scolaire en sciences à l'école élémentaire, comme un « maître de papier ». A partir, d'une part de ce nous avons désigné comme un « conflit interne de médiation », d'autre part d'une réflexion sur l'enseignement des sciences à l'école, où consultation documentaire et investigation empirique s'épaulent mutuellement, nous avons questionné l'offre éditoriale. Celle-ci se révèle peu performante comme instrument d'apprentissage en sciences et offre une vitrine de pratiques potentielles de classe qui confortent les pratiques réelles. Par ailleurs, en nous appuyant sur le concept « d'instrument subjectif » au sens de Rabardel (2005), nous avons étudié des usages de cet instrument au moyen d'analyses d'entretiens avec 13 enseignants. Nous avons ainsi caractérisé les « genèses instrumentales » de chacun de ces enseignants et dégagé des « figures d'utilisation » du manuel. Celles-ci nous renseignent en particulier sur les nœuds de difficultés que rencontrent les maîtres dans la pratique des activités scientifiques à l'école et font apparaître des pratiques enseignantes placées sous le registre du « primat de l'empirie » et peu favorables à la construction d'un rapport second au monde. En croisant ces deux types de résultats, nous proposons de redonner un statut au livre pour l'élève en sciences et donnons des outils pour concevoir des aides didactiques à l'intention des enseignants en appui à une formation d'enseignants centrée sur des objectifs fondamentaux. / Calling on the concept of double mediation, of a cognitive and didactic/pedagogical nature, as defined by Lenoir (1995), we were brought to present science textbooks in primary schools as “paper teachers”. We have questioned the editorial offer on the combined basis of what we defined as an internal "conflict of mediation ", and a reflection carried out on the teaching of science at a primary school level where documentary consulting and empirical investigation support each other. The editorial offer proves to be a poor learning tool to teach science and provides a showcase of potential teaching practices in the classroom which back up the real practices. Moreover, relying on the concept of “subjective instrument” as described by Rabardel (2005), we have studied the use of this tool through the analysis of post-class interviews led with 13 teachers. We have thus been able to characterize the “instrumental genesis” of each of these teachers and have highlighted the ways in which a textbook is used. This analysis gave us valuable information about the difficulties teachers encounter in their practice of science in primary schools and delineate teaching practices which are related to the “supremacy of the empirical approach” and do not contribute to the construction of a secondary relationship to the world. Crossing these two types of results, we suggest restoring a status to the pupil's textbook in science and give tools to create teaching aids for the teachers supporting a type of teacher training centered on fundamental objectives.