Critical analysis of articles in the field of "Content Analysis of Elementary Science Books" with an emphasis on teaching and learning methods

Critical analytical article in the field of "Analysis of experimental science books of elementary school" with the field of education and teaching



Mazhar Babaee , Hedyeh Azagh



Abstract

Textbooks are one of the most important references and resources for learning. Because most of the activities of the role of content analysis in the education process take place within the framework of this media (Niknafas & AliAbadi, 2013). Content analysis includes a set of techniques for systematic text analysis. As a result, content analysis provides a sound design method for administrators, planners, and textbook writers (Gilvand et al, 2016: 4059). In the meantime, the book of experimental sciences of elementary school is of special importance. Because the content field of experimental sciences, due to the inclusion of scientific concepts and experimental knowledge, is a suitable platform for the mental growth of students (Jafari Harandi et al, 2013). And its teaching by teachers is of special imp ortance due to its nature. Scientific education is not only teaching this information and transferring scientific concepts and knowledge. It also includes scientific processes and learning methods and complex thinking skills (Javidi Kalate Jafarabadi et al, 2017). Therefore, the current research aims to explain and analyze the articles written in Persian language in recent years in the field of content analysis of experimental science books of elementary school. Because the researches carried out in the form of different articles do not have the same structure, context, and content in a scientific sense, and there are always criticisms on them.. That is why these researches should also be analyzed and reviewed continuously. Because during the analysis that takes place, along with their strengths, their weaknesses are also revealed And it helps to improve the research process of this educational field. Also, by using the results and findings obtained from the analyzes and researches, the teachers in that educational system can change their teaching and classroom management methods for better learning of the students. For this purpose, the question is raised that: How to explain and analyze the Persian articles in the field of "Elementary science content analysis" in the field of education and teaching? In this context, a research titled "Textbooks as resources for education for sustainable development: content analysis" was conducted by Mohammadnia & Deliery Moghadam (2019) Its findings show that a more detailed content analysis of the concept of development and sustainability should be done in textbooks. A research titled "Analysis of the content of the fifth grade experimental science book based on Dewey's problem solving model" has been conducted by Amir Ahmadi et al (2012). A research titled "Analysis of the content of the fifth grade experimental science book based on Dewey's problem solving model" has been conducted by Amir Ahmadi et al (2012) which states that these researches can be a basis for curriculum planners to pay more attention to the issue of problem solving in textbooks. But the lack of the authors of the book in creating a platform for teaching in a problem-solving way will also reduce the effect of practicing skills.



Methodology

In this research, according to the purpose and questions, the document-library method and the method of descriptive quantitative content analysis of the type of written text were used. The statistical community in this research includes all the published articles in Persian language in the field of content analysis of elementary school science books based on three criteria: 1. scientific-research/research, 2. published in the last two decades, 3. in the field of content analysis of science books It is the elementary period. Therefore, among the available Persian articles in this field, 13 articles were selected as samples. The sampling method was purposeful and limited. As a result, in the first step: the articles were codedThen and in the second step, the parts of each article: a) the goals of the articles (with two-part four-pointers) including: 1. being general/partial, 2. being practical/theoretical, 3. being researchable/non-researchable, 4. being accurate/not), b) Research questions (with three two-part criteria) include: 1. general/partiality, 2. practical/non-applicability, 3. positivist or interpretive approach, c) research method of articles (with two one- and three-part criteria) including: method / being technical, t) the findings and results of the articles (with four two-part criteria) including: 1. being new/not being, 2. being practical/not being, 3. having/not interacting the findings with the goals of the article itself, 4. being specific to the course of experimental sciences. Being primitive/not, were analyzed.



Findings

The analysis of the goals of the articles, which were analyzed with 4 two-part criteria, showed that based on the practical/theoretical criteria, a large part of the goals of the articles were only theoretical and not practical. Also, based on the criterion of being able to be researched/not, a large number of the stated goals of the articles had the ability to be researched. However, due to their generality, these capabilities were imprecise and unclear, which makes it difficult to continue the work process. Comparing the characteristics of the questions section shows that the questions, as the axis and the driving engine of the research, are of great importance. If the questions of an article are stated in general terms, the application of the findings of that research will be reduced And it will take on more of a theoretical and explanatory aspect. And of course, the more detailed, clear and detailed the questions are, the clearer the goals and findings will be and, as a result, more practical. The findings of the methodology section indicate that the conducted researches mainly used the descriptive method as a common method in most of the researches. In the event that content analysis itself has its own methods and techniques Using them increases the credibility and degree of specialization of the research And it makes the findings more reliable. The findings of the articles were analyzed with four two-part criteria. According to the criterion of being new/not, a large number of the findings of the articles were new. Based on the criterion of being/not being specific to the experimental science course of the elementary school, the results of the findings of most of the articles are specific to the experimental science course of the elementary school; However, some of them can be extended to other subjects as well. Thus, if the research findings are not new, in addition to their parallelism and repetition, the researchers' neglect of the research field shows itself . Therefore, the findings indicate the low and unfavorable level of the content analysis articles of the experimental science book of the elementary course in the field of teaching.