| Innovation is the first power to lead the social development and practice is the foundation of human society improvement. Develop the students’ ability of innovation and practice is the ultimate goal of school education. But if students always learn knowledge in a passive way, then students’ ability of innovation and practice will became water without source and tree without root. For the transformation of learning pattern to cultivate students’ learning ability, practice ability and innovation ability,Subject Standard for Senior Mathematics(experimental version)clearly pointed out that "textbooks’ compilation should intersperse mathematics inquiry activities properly in some teaching content ", to let students through mathematics inquiry activity to "preliminary understand the produce process of mathematical concepts and conclusions,experience the process and creation passion of mathematics study, improve their ability to detection and put forward and solve mathematics problems, then play role of their imagination and innovation spirit". Compared with traditional mathematics textbooks,those senior mathematics textbooks which are compiled under the guidance of Subject Standard for Senior Mathematics(experimental version) having made big reformation,in respects of the content, example, structure, and organization, etc. Especially the PEP senior math textbooks, which are interspersed with several mathematics inquiry-related contents in the text and appendixes, and provide plenty of curriculum resources for mathematics inquiry teaching of senior teachers and students. The new pattern of textbooks’ compilation which coincidence with the transition of scientific knowledge to cultural knowledge, brings high school teachers and students great challenge in using textbooks to teach and learn.Teachers as the organizers and implementer of teaching, how they teach always determine how the student learn, in the activities of using textbook to teach and learn,teachers also occupies the leading status. To take into account the teacher’s misunderstanding on "students’ autonomous learning" which advocated in the curriculum reform and the wrong teaching way to use "students self-study tutorship through memory and practice to accept mathematical knowledge" to replace "students explore knowledge according to the textbook design ", this research focus on teachers’ usage of the inquiry-related content in textbooks have great significance under the background of the reform. Aim to answers of those question that "Do high school mathematics teachers apply the inquiry-related contents in textbooks? How they apply them? What are the factors that might influence the application of inquiry-related contents in textbooks? How to promote teachers’ application of inquiry-related contents in textbooks?" take teachers as the main research object and students as assistant research object, this research take the account of the usage of inquiry-related contents in the senior school mathematical textbooks systematically.So that this paper on the one hand apparently reveal the promotion condition of the senior high school mathematics teaching pattern reform, and on the other hand provide considerations from both practices and demonstrations for the deepening development of the curriculum reform.This paper takes textbooks as not only the vehicle of courses but also teaching aids.The essential attributes of textbooks include content attributes and teaching attributes:content attributes emphasize on compiling theories, selecting contents, compiling contents, organization, etc., which are attributes as the vehicle of courses; while teaching attributes emphasize on attributes of teaching design, learning evaluation,teaching resources, etc., which are attributes that textbooks present or potentially help to promote the teaching and learning. Taking textbooks as reference to analyze and use existing research result, the study suggests that inquiry-related content as a specific component of the textbook possesses specific content attributes and teaching attributes.Thus "teachers applying inquiry-related contents in textbooks" is an activity of maximizing the teaching service function of inquiry-related contents in textbooks, and of practicing content attributes and teaching attributes of inquiry-related contents in textbooks of teaching activities. Based on text analysis, this study inducts characteristics of the inquiry-related contents in textbooks from three dimensions: the present and inquiry object, inquiry strategy and inquiry target, as well defines the application of inquiry-related contents in high school mathematics textbooks as an activity of teachers selecting the inquiry-related contents, executing its teaching strategy, and realizing its teaching target.This paper, taking TIMSS(The International Trend of Math and Science Research)Curriculum Framework as theoretical foundation, under the guidance of Subject Standard for Senior Mathematics, takes methods of documentary study, content analysis,classroom observation, interview, and questionnaire, etc. to study the compiling features of the inquiry-related contents in the PEP high school mathematics textbooks and the teachers’ practice in its usage,and to explore the factors that influence high school mathematics teachers in applying the inquiry-related contents in textbooks, as well as puts forward suggestions on promoting high school mathematics teachers to apply the inquiry-related contents in textbooks. To be more specific, firstly this study constructs a text analysis framework of curriculum documents, existing research results of the inquiry-related contents in textbooks, and comprehensive research of the inquiry-related contents in high school mathematics textbooks. And then adopt the framework to analyze the compiling features of the inquiry-related contents, inquiry strategy and inquiry target in PEP high school mathematics textbook(required version) and PEP high school mathematics textbook(elective version 2) series. Next, on the basis of the resultsof the above analysis, collect data, by means of classroom observation, interview, and questionnaire, of sample teachers’ practice while they are applying the inquiry-related contents. And induct the situation of sample teachers’ application of the inquiry-related contents in textbooks and its factors on the basis of triangulation testing. At last, bring up suggestions on promoting high school mathematics teachers’ application of inquiry-related contents in textbooks on the basis of the above research. The study comes to conclusions as follows:Ⅰ. The framework of the text analysis of the inquiry-related contents contains 3dimensions(the present and inquiry object, inquiry strategy and inquiry target) and 8categories, including columns that presenting inquiry-related contents, inquiry objects,inquiry subjects, inquiry organizations, process skill, openness level, target type, and target presentation, among which most of the categories can be separated into several sub-categories. For example, inquiry objects can be divided into declarative knowledge inquiry, procedural knowledge inquiry, creative knowledge application, and imitative knowledge application; openness level can be divided into question-origin type,evidence-origin type, result-origin type, and demonstration-origin type.Ⅱ. The text analysis finds that the compiling of the inquiry-related contents of senior high school mathematics textbooks is characterized by: in terms of the contents for inquiry, the textbook is designed with abundant inquiry-related contents which are mainly presented in two ways- sections of Question, Observation, and Inquiry in the text, and columns of Reading & Thinking, Inquiry & Finding, IT Application, and Practice & Homework in the appendix. The chief intention is to introduce new mathematics knowledge, 72.4% of the inquiry-related contents target at the inquiry of mathematics knowledge(most of which is declarative knowledge that takes 58.7%, and procedural knowledge 13.7%), the rest 27.6% at the application of mathematics knowledge(creative knowledge application takes 11.8% and imitative knowledge application 15.8%). In terms of teaching strategy, the guidance to the inquiry-related content in Teacher’s Book emphasizes on students subjectivity(the subjects of 62.2% of the target design statements and 39.0% of teaching suggestions of the inquiry-related contents involve students); 18.1% of the inquiry-related contents emphasize on students doing independent inquiry, only 2.0% emphasize on providing students with sufficient time to do inquiry, only 4.2% clearly mark multi-inquiry, and the rest do not show the organization of students’ inquiry; basic process skills are main process skills(84.1% of total frequency of skills), while integrated process skills secondary(15.9% of total frequency of skills). Nearly half(48.0%) of inquiry-related contents train more than2 types of process skills. Basic process skills pay more attention to inference, observation and comparison, which are respectively needed by 50.1%, 20.3% and 18.1% of the inquiry-related contents, and the least attention to the control of variables, operational definition, and formulation of hypotheses, which are respectively needed by 0.6%,0.6%and 1.5% of the inquiry-related contents; result-origin type takes the most part of the openness level of the inquiry by 81.5%, evidence-origin type the secondary by 10.2%,demonstration-origin type the third by 6.0%, and question-origin type the least by 2.0%.In terms of teaching target,73.1% guidance of inquiry-related content in Teacher’s Book include target statement, declarative knowledge and skill target takes the largestproportion by 57.8%, process and methods target 26.1%, emotional attitude value target the least, 13.3%; target of the inquiry-related contents focuses on internal process which is 52.7% during the statement, then that states neither internal process nor external behavior by 10.0%, and that states only external behavior ranks the third by 6.4%, and the rest states both internal process and external behavior by 4.0%.Ⅲ. In the teaching practice of sample teachers, the characteristics of their application of inquiry-related contents in high school mathematics textbooks are as follows: in terms of the selection and revision of inquiry-related contents, the inquiry-related contents in the text take high proportion, 89.6% of inquiry-related tasks in observation cases are selected, and 64.8% of sample teachers show in the questionnaire that they have selected most of the inquiry-related contents in textbooks,while on the contrast, the inquiry-related contents in the appendix are selected less; few of the teachers will revise the inquiry-related contents, 58.0% of the inquiry-related tasks in observation cases are not revised at all, and teachers’ revision very often weakens students’ inquiry activity in class(58.6%), 5 of the interviewed teachers who have revised the inquiry-related contents weakened students’ inquiry activity, and only 2strengthened students’ inquiry activity. The execution of the teaching strategy of the inquiry-related contents reflects student subjectivity. The result of questionnaires shows that 5.8% of the teachers prefer the way of teacher explanation, and the rest 94.2% tend to offer students chances to do inquiry, while the proportions are almost the same in class observation; the result of questionnaires also shows teachers prefer the interactive way of "teachers ask and students answer", 84.7% of teachers prefer this way for inquiries, which takes 81.5% in class observation; students adopt basic process skills more to do inquiries, and the cases in the questionnaire of teachers making students ask questions makes up the smallest proportion, while the frequency of integrated process skills takes only 9.8% in class observation; the survey on the dimension of inquiry openness level finds that students’ inquiry space is small, and the average openness level of inquiry-related tasks in class observation is 2.23. In terms of highlighting the teaching target of inquiry-related contents, 9 teachers interviewed stated their teaching target while applying the inquiry-related contents in textbooks, 7(77.8%) referred to teaching targets in fields of knowledge and skills, 4(44.4%) in fields of process and methods, and other 5(55.6%) in fields of emotional attitude and values.Ⅳ. In the process of applying the inquiry-related content, sample teachers are affected by characters of themselves, students, textbooks, schools, and the society and culture: as to the teachers themselves, 65.6% of them approve that the aim of compiling the inquiry-related contents is to provide inquiry teaching materials for teachers and students, but only 52.4% of them approve that students should finish the inquiry-related contents independently; 72.4% of them recognize the inquiry-related contents in high school mathematics textbooks, and their receptivity to the content attributes and teaching attributes of the inquiry-related contents textbooks is higher than that to the associated materials; the teachers on 5 different concerns stages of the inquiry-related content(information, personalization, management, result, cooperation) separately are39.8%, 77.3%, 58.0%, 73.3%, and 86.5%, which shows that teachers mainly focus on what the inquiry-related contents bring to themselves, to students, and the cooperationon the inquiry-related contents with other teachers; teachers’ ability and experience can also affect the application of the inquiry-related contents,too. As to students, their cognition and ability, involvement, existing experience and interest separately receives71.1%, 64.2% and 61.1% of teachers’ receptivity on its effect on the use of inquiry-related contents. And other 81.3% of teachers think the students so many that affect the students’ independent inquiry, practice, and communication and cooperation.As to textbooks, whether the inquiry-related contents satisfy the teaching requirement,its importance to the exam, the clarity of its teaching target, the difficulty level, the enlightening and necessity, the life property, and the maneuverability of it all have affect teachers’ application of the inquiry-related contents in textbooks. As to the environment of schools, factors like teaching time urgency, lack of teaching equipment, teaching target aiming at knowledge instead of students’ learning ability, whether the culture of policies and systems could offer favorable policy support and teaching research system to the use of inquiry-related contents all constrain the application of the inquiry-related contents. As to the society and culture, what affect the application of the inquiry-related contents are the examination tradition of the imperial examination system, the utilitarian culture environment of pragmatism, and the intensive cultivation agricultural culture.Ⅴ. On the basis of the above study, this paper put forward proposals for promoting teachers’ application of the inquiry-related contents in textbooks from teachers’ self advancement, textbooks’ compiling, school environment’s improvement, and social culture’s improvement. As to teachers’ self advancement, while selecting and compiling of the inquiry-related contents, teachers should make choices according to the mainline of the inquiry, add the inquiry-related contents according to the fluency of the inquiry,revise the inquiry-related contents according to the "clarity rule", and innovate fresh inquiry-related contents according to the "teaching reality"; considering the teaching strategy implementation of the inquiry-related contents, teachers should set proper concept of textbook application, guide the inquiry from the nature of mathematics and the the characteristics, method and skills of mathematics inquiry, correctly understand the importance of the process and result of the inquiry, distinguish the role and status of the teacher and the student in inquiry; as for the achievement of the teaching target,teachers should correctly understand the teaching target of the inquiry-related content and present it rationally. As to the compiling of textbooks, writers should make sure and point out clearly the compiling target of the inquiry-related content through extensive investigation and research, and face the differences of compiling targets in different textbook positions; selecting inquiry-related content should follow principles of value,inquiry, operation, interest, stratification, culture, etc.; the presentation of the inquiry-related content should follow principles of concentration, integrity, question,hierarchy, readability, instruction, etc. Schools should shift the focus which only on college entrance examination, and school’s teaching research activities should focus on knowledge inquiry. Social culture should understand the cultivation target of high school mathematics education roundly, parents and the public should not interfere too much on school education, and college entrance examination proposition should focus on problem-solving ability.This paper consists of 8 chapter: Preface, Literature Review, Research Design, Textanalysis for compiling features of the inquiry-related content in senior high school mathematics textbooks, Research status of high school mathematics teachers’ application of the inquiry-related content in textbooks, Factors that affect high school mathematics teachers’ application of the inquiry-related content in textbooks, Proposals for promoting teachers’ application of the inquiry-related contents in textbooks, and at last, Conclusions and discussions.Innovations of this paper: 1) This paper is the first dissertation to analyze the compiling characters and teachers’ application of the inquiry-related contents in senior high school mathematics textbooks, the theme of this paper is novel; 2) This paper,focusing on the teaching attributes of textbooks, regards high school mathematics teachers’ application of the inquiry-related contents as the implementation of the teaching design intention of the inquiry-related contents, exploring it in three dimensions- the selection of the inquiry-related content, the execution of teaching strategy of the inquiry-related contents, and the highlighting of teaching target of the inquiry-related contents, which is a new perspective; 3) This paper adopts TIMSS curriculum framework as its theory framework, and demonstrates its explanatory power on this microscopic curriculum field by applying inquiry-related content in research, as well reminds people the interactive effects of the curriculum, teachers, students, school,and the society on the application of textbooks and teaching practices. This study reveals that the application of textbooks is a complicated research topic affected by various factors, and puts forward proposals on promoting teachers to apply the inquiry-related content in textbooks. The result of this research is novel.Deficiencies of this paper: 1) This paper refers to just two of the three-level curricula of TIMSS curriculum- Intended curriculum and Implemented curriculum, and takes teachers as the main research objects of the application of senior high school mathematics textbooks, unable to reflect the effect of the application of inquiry-related contents; 2) This paper adopts various tools for data collection, thus raw data are numerous and complex, hard to handle. Therefore, the possibility of omitting the "integrated meaning" of data to the whole research process and having just partial inference cannot be ruled out during data analysis. 3) The research is limited by samples,thus it pursues more understandable and constructive conclusions whereas lacks the certainty, universality and popularization of general quantitative researches. |
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