Examines science textbook language and determines some characteristics of them: distant authorial voice, concern for precision, limited context, limited syntax, and rhetorical model. Suggests three further researcher needs. (YP)

Reviewed were 38 textbooks on investment analysis. Seven textbooks for undergraduate chemical engineering students are rated by 31 topics extracted by the review. Presents top-ranked texts in engineering economics and business/finance. (YP)

Presents results of an examination of the portrayal of teachers in picture books. Reports that most teachers are represented as female, often nameless, and almost always smiling. Expresses concern over some stereotypes found. Suggests that more attention should be paid to these books because of the power of literature to shape readers' perceptions…

Suggests ways of increasing the international focus of industrial organization courses. Discusses four areas of international topics that could be integrated into such courses. Includes imperfect markets, trade, and industrial policy; theory of the firm; exchange rates and market behavior; and issues in antitrust. Evaluates the extent and adequacy…

Offers a critique of existing methods of assessing the human interest of basic writing textbooks, contending that most are abstract and subjective and that the more objective Flesch formula inflates texts' human-interest level. Advocates modifying existing formulas and guidelines. Suggests criteria (e.g., appropriateness of readability level) for…

Reviews 21 one-semester economics textbooks using Kenneth E. Boulding's ideas for introductory textbooks. Lists 240 concepts and topic areas in macroeconomics, microeconomics, public policy, and international economics that may be covered in a textbook. (NL)

Discusses teaching about Christopher Columbus and the contact between the Americas and the Old World. Suggests that most history texts are correct in the information they include but leave much out. Describes a museum exhibit focusing on disease, corn, the potato, the horse, and sugar as agents of change resulting from the Columbian contact. (DK)

Reports that a goal and item analysis of eight history and systems of psychology textbooks and their accompanying test item files showed that the majority of the essay test items are too narrow in scope to measure the commonly stated course goals. Presents some integrative and goal-relevant essay questions to rectify this shortcoming. Includes a…

Proposing two major shifts in how to involve low readers more effectively in textbook learning, this book suggests that students, even those with low reading skills, can learn to use mainstream textbooks, and that textbooks can be designed to make them more usable for all students. The book presents a series of instructional techniques that…

Each issue in this set of newsletters is devoted exclusively to reviews of a science textbook. Each text is reviewed by two scientists and one science educator. Textbooks reviewed by issue are: (1) "Scott, Foresman Biology" (1988); (2) "Heath Life Science" (1987); (3) "Prentice-Hall Biology" (1987); (4) "Scott, Foresman Life Science" (1987); (5)…

Social studies textbooks need careful inspection with regard to how they treat ethnicity. Although there have been several studies of possible bias in textbooks, there are methodological concerns that need further deliberation. Content analysis has been called a "technique for systematic inference from communications," and it may be viewed as a…

This textbook evaluation instrument is provided to assess (1) content properties; (2) instructional properties; (3) physical properties; (4) readability; and (5) other properties such as cultural mix, organization of text, and suitability for various grade levels in secondary level world geography and global studies textbooks. For the first three…

This booklet addresses the question of what is wrong with textbooks and then shows how textbooks can be improved through the selection process. A conceptual scheme is proposed as the basis of the selection process. Specific attributes and features to look for when selecting textbooks, based on this conceptual scheme, are discussed. Five categories…

There has been much recent discussion concerning the content of the standard calculus course for students majoring in mathematics and the sciences. Some of this discussion has focused on the available textbooks. One weakness noted in some of these books involves the definitions of limit and continuity for functions of several variables. A…

The characteristics and components of scientific literacy are reviewed and analyzed in this report. Perspectives are given on textbook use, content, emphases and applications of the dimensions of scientific literacy. The distinctive features of the curriculum reform projects of the l960's and l970's are also discussed and their impacts are…