Complexity of Practical Work in Portuguese Primary Science Textbooks

Abstract

Practical work and textbooks have an important role in primary science education. This study analyses the complexity of practical work in Portuguese primary science textbooks. The level of complexity was appreciated by the level of conceptual demand of practical work, as given by the type of practical work, the complexity of scientific knowledge, the complexity of cognitive skills and the degree of relation between theory and practice. The explicitness of practical work was also analysed. The study followed an approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis and a total of 176 units of analysis were evaluated from six science textbooks, chosen among the most selected in Portuguese primary schools. The results showed that textbooks evidence a tendency towards a low level of conceptual demand of practical work, considering the proposals for practical activities and the related evaluation questions. Practical activities, mainly focused on practical exercises and illustrative experiences, tend to mobilize scientific knowledge and cognitive skills of a low level of complexity and point out to an apparent relation between theory and practice. The evaluation questions present a lower level of conceptual demand. The results also showed a weak concern with the explicitness of the practical work. However, findings also indicated that there are differences between the textbooks.

Exploring the Integration of Engineering Design Practices in Tenth-Grade Chemistry Activities

“…It should be noted that inquiry skills are also not well-represented in the current science (Aldahmash et al, 2016). Analysis approaches for different science curricula have been made and revealed similar results (Ferreira and Morais, 2014;Elmas et al, 2020;Bakken and Andersson-Bakken, 2021;Ferreira and Saraiva, 2021;Vojíř and Rusek, 2022), mathematics (Aldahmash and Alamri, 2020) or chemistry textbooks (Aldahmash and Omar, 2021). Moreover, the inclusion of all inquiry skills was directed toward teacher-centered learning rather than student-centered learning, contrary to the NRC standards [National Research Council (NRC), 1996, 2000.…”

Currículo de ciências para o ensino primário: Uma análise comparativa entre Portugal, Inglaterra, Estados Unidos, Austrália e Singapura

“…Neste sentido as práticas pedagógicas dos professores são muito influenciadas pelos manuais escolares, para além das conceções que os docentes têm sobre o que é a ciência e como se ensina ciências nos primeiros anos (Correia & Freire, 2015;Silva et al, 2013b). Os manuais escolares desta disciplina, por sua vez, apresentam um baixo nível de exigência conceptual do trabalho prático e, por isso, pouco promovem o processo científico (Ferreira & Saraiva, 2021). Em Portugal, e de acordo com a análise dos relatórios de Gestão Curricular da Inspeção-Geral da Educação e Ciência (2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020), as atividades desenvolvidas no âmbito das ciências no 1.º CEB: pouco envolvem ativamente as crianças no processo de aprendizagem; estão ainda muito focadas em conhecimentos canónicos em detrimento de capacidades e atitudes e valores; e são pouco contextualizadas na realidade e dia-a-dia das crianças (Silva et al, 2023), corroborando com vários outros estudos realizados neste âmbito (Bretes & Correia, 2018;Costa et al, 2006).…”

Of teachers and textbooks: lower secondary teachers' perceived importance and use of chemistry textbook components

“…The results, again, confirm a very similar conception for textbook task parameters. Bakken and Andersson-Bakken (2021) even speak of a certain genre that textbook tasks follow, which are open-ended questions mostly targeting facts, only simple contexts, no complex concepts (Ferreira and Saraiva, 2021) and a lack of opportunity to develop competences (Bakken and Andersson-Bakken, 2021).…”

“…As found in the qualitative task analysis in the analysed textbooks (Vojı ´r ˇand Rusek, 2022), they include tasks aimed primarily at fixing acquired educational content -a trend also known e.g. from Portugal (Coelho da Silva et al, 2019;Ferreira and Saraiva, 2021). Regarding teachers' tendency to consider textbook content an example of the implemented curriculum, this shows a contrast with the curricula's intellectual demands, which target higher-order cognitive operations (Elmas et al, 2020;Ka ´covsky ´et al, 2021).…”