Research On The Development And Application Of The Measurement Tool For Secondary School Students’ Use Of Mathematics Textbooks

As an important part of curriculum implementation,students’ use of mathematics textbooks has received increasing attention in recent years and become one of the hot topics of international conferences on mathematics education.In China,Mathematics Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition)points out that mathematics textbooks provide learning themes,knowledge structures and basic clues for teaching and learning activities,and they should be conducive to teachers’ creative teaching and students’ autonomous learning.However,students will be faced with practical difficulties such that they will be unable to understand the contents in mathematics textbooks.Meanwhile,literature search showed that there were some typical problems in the research field of mathematics textbook use by students.For example,the indicators of current situation of textbook use were ambiguous,the level of textbook use was lack of discipline and the analyses of influencing factors were not systematic.In order to make up for the existing research and provide evidence for the new round of compulsory education mathematics curriculum reform,this study takes activity theory and reader-oriented theory as theoretical basis,uses a mixed-method approach of text analysis,questionnaire survey,interviews with students and teachers and classroom observations,and focuses on the following three questions:(1)How to develop the measurement tool for junior high school students’ use of mathematics textbooks?(2)What is the current situation and level of mathematics textbook use by junior high school students?(3)What factors affect junior high school students’ use of mathematics textbooks?The measurement tool for junior high school students’ use of mathematics textbooks includes two parts: the questionnaire of current situation of textbook use and the scale of level of textbook use.Based on activity theory,the questionnaire focuses on how often,when,what,why and for what activities occur,namely,the frequency,timing,content,reasons and perceptions of mathematics textbook use by junior high school students.Then,687 students were selected by multiple stages for the pre-test and the results showed that the internal consistency reliability,split-half reliability and content validity of the questionnaire are good.On the other hand,the scale is based on reader-oriented theory and focuses on the structure and functions of mathematics textbooks.Through text analysis of teachers’ teaching guidance books,interviews with experts and two rounds of identity survey,9 columns and 44 functions of mathematics textbooks were determined.Thus,the degree to which students make the columns in mathematics textbooks function was converted into a five-item scale.20 students were randomly selected for the pre-test and their responses showed that the expression and arrangement of the questions and the length of answer time were appropriate.Further,687 students were selected by multiple stages for the pre-test.Item analysis,factor analysis,reliability and validity analysis and other results showed that the scale passed the tests.On the whole,the development process of the measurement tool is scientific and objective,and the test results of the measurement tool are effective and reliable.The measurement tool can accurately investigate and evaluate the current situation and level of mathematics textbook use by junior high school students.Compared to previous studies and mature questionnaires,the measurement tool developed in this study is more systematic,disciplinary,relevant and representative.Then,a large-scale investigation was carried out on 2300 junior high school students in eight provinces sampled in multiple stages by the measurement tool,20 students and 8 teachers were interviewed and 9 classroom instructions were observed.The results showed that:(1)Junior high school students relied on textbooks in mathematics learning and recognized the effects of mathematics textbook use.On the one hand,junior high school students mainly used the kernel content in mathematics textbooks,but at different times and places,and for different and clear reasons.On the other hand,junior high school students thought that using mathematics textbooks is the most helpful to develop basic knowledge and skills.Helpfulness in understanding methods,gaining experience,shaping emotions and improving grades was in descending order.(2)The levels of mathematics textbook use by junior high school students could be divided into four levels: the former level,low level,middle level and high level,and most of students were at the middle level or lower.Junior high school students at the former level did not understand the written intentions of mathematics textbooks,did not know their own use intentions,and were basically unable to make mathematics textbooks function;Junior high school students at the low level had a preliminary understanding of the written intentions of mathematics textbooks,basically known their own use intentions,and could only make mathematics textbooks partly function,especially the core content and knowledge functions;Junior high school students at the middle level understood the written intentions of mathematics textbooks,clearly known their own use intentions,and could make textbooks mostly function,including some functions of emotions,attitudes and values;Junior high school students at the high level clearly understood the written intentions of mathematics textbooks,very clearly known their own use intentions,and could make textbooks all function.(3)Mathematics textbook use by junior high school students was influenced by both internal and external factors.School regions,student grades and teachers’ backgrounds were the explicit variables.Students’ knowledge base and beliefs of mathematics and mathematics learning and difficulty and area of curriculum content were the internal factors of activities.The access to and types of other curriculum resources,examination culture,and the ways teachers used textbooks and adjusted students were the external factors of activities.These factors affected the current situation and level of junior high school students’ use of mathematics textbooks.According to the above research conclusions,mathematics textbooks and mathematics teachers should take the initiative to lead curriculum reform and provide strong support for the ‘student-centered’ mode of classroom instruction.First,the compilation of mathematics textbooks should clarify the writing intentions,explain the editorial philosophies,select the materials close to reality,strengthen the functions of columns and combine the structure vertically and horizontally to meet students’ individual development and diverse needs.Second,mathematics teachers should have deeper perceptions of their mediation role,focus on improving their efficiency of transformation and scientifically regulate students’ cognition of textbook use.In the future,the following studies should accelerate the change from teachers to students,strengthen the theoretical discussions,broaden the research topics and advocate the mixed methods to enhance the international influence of China in this research field and provide evidence for native mathematics curriculum reform.