Investigating Consistency of Questions in Primary and Middle School Science Textbooks with Objectives in Science Curriculum

Abstract

Due to problems related their content and use; textbooks do not achieve the expected effect in learning although they are one of the most important elements of the science curriculum. Questions in textbooks are also important criteria in determining the effect of textbooks. In this study, it was aimed to compare questions in four different science textbooks, both qualitatively and quantitatively in terms of objectives of curriculum. 2677 questions retrieved from primary school 3^rd and middle school 5^th and 6^th grades textbooks were investigated comparatively in terms of their ratio across objectives in the curriculum, cognitive levels and types. According to the analysis, it was determined that there were differences between distributions of questions in the same and different grade level textbooks. It was also found that questions related to the objectives regarding input and processing skills were more than questions related to the objectives of output skills. Besides, it was observed that most of the questions in textbooks were aligned with traditional assessment and evaluation tools, and the ratio of the alternative type tools was found to be lower than the ratio of four different textbooks.