Examination of the biology textbook for 10(th) grades in high school education and the ideas of the pre-service teachers

Abstract

This study aims to examine the biology textbook for 10(th) grades, which is prepared by the Ministry of National Education. The present research is based on qualitative research techniques and includes two steps. In the first step, the textbook misconceptions, question types, contents topics, visual materials and measurement and evaluation techniques are investigated. In the second step, the learning approach of the textbook is evaluated by the five pre-service teachers in the last grade. The results show that important misconceptions, which can affect the learning, are found in biology textbook. As no different types of questions are seen, the textbook can't provide the inquiry according to its questioning techniques. Besides these it is emphasized by the pre-service teachers that the textbook encourages the students to memorize and that the textbook should be revised as a result. In the light of these results the items that how a textbook must be analyzed and which points are to be observed by choosing a textbook must be taught to the pre-service teachers. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved