A Comparative Study On The Cross Penetration Of Biology Textbooks In Chinese And American High Schools

With the rapid development of science and technology, humans are facing various new problems, such as problems of environment, population, natural resources, the safety and bioethics of genetically modified food, sustainable development and so on. To solve these problems, humans need to integrate different subjects and seek creative solutions from the perspectives of different subjects. Under such a background, the trend of the integration and infiltration of the subjects of curriculum reform becomes increasingly apparent. The textbook is an important component of a curriculum, and in the biology textbooks of senior high school, both China and America reflect the international educational reform trend of the integration of subjects. Based on comparing and analyzing the distinctions of the latest biology textbooks in China and the USA, this essay is intended to discover the strengths and weaknesses of them and learn from each other.This article analyses and compares the biology textbooks of both countries via the literature research method and comparative research method from the aspect of the integration of subjects. The conclusions are as follows.From the point of content system, the textbooks in both countries have many subject integrative focuses, which fully reflect the developing trend of multi-subject integration of international education. As to the sources of the contents, the biology textbook of PEP’s edition is relatively more abundant, with other subjects well distributed and the history of science included, while the American biology textbook "Biology The Dynamics of Life" integrates with the subjects of physics and chemistry at a higher rate. In regard to the content system, the American edition "Biology The Dynamics of Life" is classified according to the sources of different subjects and provides corresponding and concise sub-catalog and catalog search. The Chinese edition divides the contents of multi-subject integration from different angles, which can be further classified uniformly and properly for the convenience of readers. In the sense of multi-subject integration, both textbooks of China and the USA focus on enhancing students’ capability of analyzing and solving problems with the help of ample multi-subject integration; meanwhile, they both relate to students’ real life so as o motivate their curiosity and interest of learning. Both of them embody the benetration of STS education thought and cultivate students to view the development of science and technology objectively and dialectically.In conclusion, the textbooks of both countries have much multi-subject integration and have their own features as well. The American biology textbook "Biology The Dynamics of Life" is brief and clear in terms of the column setup and is equipped with sub-catalog and catalog search easy for reference. The PEP’s textbook is well distributed in respect of multi-subject integration and emphasizes the penetration of science history, by which students’ rigorous and realistic scientific attitudes can be cultivated. Both of them reflect the developing trend of multi-subject integration and the STS educational thought and provide abundant multi-subject materials for students to improve their scientific literacy.