Analyzes the structure and skill level of the tasks in the practical activities prescribed in eight process-oriented integrated science textbooks for Caribbean students in grades seven through nine. Results indicate that most of the tasks are structured and deductive in approach. Contains 42 references. (DDR)

Business school law courses should promote understanding of legal processes affecting business, help students learn to recognize legal issues and manage legal risks, increase ethical sensitivity, and help students to develop critical thinking skills. To this end, business law and legal environment textbooks tend to focus on ethical and legal…

This study reviewed six history textbooks widely used in grades 7-12 across the U.S. Using a story-line analysis, the findings of this study suggest: (1) textbooks reinforce negative stereotypes of Latin Americans as lazy, passive, irresponsible, and, somewhat paradoxically, lustful, animalistic and violent; (2) the method of description employed…

Beliefs about texts and textbooks is an active area of inquiry in social psychology but the results of these studies are largely unknown in the fields of English education and composition. For most students knowledge and beliefs function very similarly. What a student knows he or she inevitably believes; and what he or she believes means a…

This paper is based on a portion of the curriculum analysis of elementary science textbooks that was conducted as part of a larger Elementary Subjects Center study of curriculum materials used in literature, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts. A commonly used elementary science curriculum series, Silver Burdett and Ginn's…

Providing varying viewpoints on the "state of the art" in content reading from a cadre of authors who have contributed to the expansion of the knowledge base, this book presents preservice and inservice teachers with practical suggestions to use in their classrooms as well as the theoretical bases for these suggestions. The book provides…

Using a sample issue of the "Journal of Communication" as a point of comparison, a study examined the content of 10 introductory textbooks for the field of communication. Results indicated that textbooks scarcely ever acknowledge methodological pluralism, and when they do, they simply cite it as an existing factor in the field of communication and…

The consistency of content areas was assessed for six college health textbooks published between 1980 and 1987. Texts were analyzed to determine coverage of ten selected content areas: (1) motor vehicle accidents; (2) teenage pregnancy; (3) suicide and homicide; (4) alcohol and drug misuse; (5) smoking; (6) nutrition; (7) exercise and fitness; (8)…

To provide a consistent framework for evaluating competing reading methods and materials, an assessment instrument was devised to help over 100 inservice educators evaluate the middle grade components of five nationally used basal reader programs: the Holt Basic Reading System; the Open Court Correlated Language Arts Program, the Ginn Reading 360…

When elementary school teachers serve on a committee to select a new basal reader program, they must represent their school's unique needs. To develop their awareness, the selection committee should address such questions as: What kind of program improvements are teachers hoping to get? What kind of articulation will be needed between this program…

This basal reading series cross-reference guide can help educators (1) place students transfering from another basal program; (2) select appropriate enrichment basal programs to satisfy school district policies; (3) identify and select reinforcement skill exercises from other basal programs; (4) identify basal reading materials with similar skills…

The attitudes of grade 6 middle school students and teachers toward their social studies textbook, "American Neighbors," (Macmillan, 1980) were measured through conversations, interviews, classroom observations, questionnaires, attitude measures, student letters to textbook authors, and a metaphor task. The case study, which took place…

Although the minority content of textbooks has increased and improved over time, its purpose and application are seldom discussed. Various approaches that promote multicultural principles, such as films, intergroup contact, curriculum innovation, multi-ethnic readers, and literature packages, are outlined in this review of the effective…

Five commonly used educational psychology textbooks were reviewed in terms of the accuracy and comprehensiveness of their coverage of three controversial topics: Piagetian theory; self-fulfilling prophecy; and learning styles. Although textbook coverages were accurate as written, they often failed to convey the degree of controversy that exists…

Since current research and theory question many of the traditional methods and techniques of teaching vocabulary, a study was made to determine the content of 55 college vocabulary texts and the extent to which the content was consistent with empirical evidence. The study investigated the techniques used to teach word knowledge and whether they…