Comparative Study Of Senior High School Mathematics Textbooks Between China And America

Internationalization of education is developing rapidly nowadays.Many international schools,public high schools introduced Sino-foreign cooperative education projects.Some Chinese teachers are assumed the responsibility of math-teaching in these projects.They were good at instructing students in normal Chinese schools.However,their teaching performance is not ideal in international programs,due to lacking of international background,less-understanding of international curriculums and textbooks,etc.Besides,some dual high school diploma programs are facing some prominent problems for urgent solutions,how to balance the ratio of China-America class-hours,how to arrange the knowledge modules scientifically,etc.As the major source of knowledge for students,textbooks are critical indicators of instructors' “What to teach”,“How to teach” and students' “What to learn” and “How to learn”;they are also major mediums of interaction between instructors,students,and knowledge.This paper takes a comparative analysis of textbooks as a top priority.By researching different high school math textbooks comparatively,we can provide useful guidance for the improvement of the organization and teaching quality of mathematics teaching in Sino-foreign cooperative education projects at the level of senior high school,and also provide reference for the compilation and revision of high school mathematics textbooks.This paper selects People Education Press' s version A of high school mathematics textbooks of China,United States Glencoe / Mc Graw-Hill Publishing's Core-Plus Mathematics textbooks,United States Key Curriculum Press' Precalculus: With Trigonometry Concepts and Applications.This paper studies the topics of trigonometry and vector on aspects of curriculum standards analysis,knowledge structure,layout characteristic,practice exercise,and comprehensive difficulty to compare the aforementioned three sets of textbooks' similarities and differences.In terms of curriculum standard,The Chinese textbooks are strict accordance with curriculum standard.The use of curriculum standard in American textbooks is relatively flexible.In terms of knowledge structure,The Chinese textbooks are more holistic and logical;American textbooks' knowledge modules are compiled in mixture,giving a spiral progression,focusing on the systematic extension of knowledge.In terms of layout,The Chinese textbooks concern logical reasoning of knowledge,focusing on fundamental knowledge and development of fundamental skills;The American textbooks prefer to use practical problems and issues in scenarios as carriers to stress the importance of mathematical application,emphasizing solving mathematical problems.In terms of exercise comparison,these three sets of textbooks are very concerned about extension and application.But in aspects of exploratory and openness,the two American textbooks gain superiority over the PEP textbooks.In terms of difficulty analysis,The Chinese textbooks go deeper than the other textbooks in depth.The two American textbooks are well above Chinese textbooks in terms of breadth and exploratory level.This conclusion is much different from the popular theory that the foreign courses are much easier.Based on the conclusions of the analysis,several recommendations were proposed.In terms of teaching suggestions,new teaching and learning conditions forcing teachers to explore and implement appropriate teaching strategies.orientating the Sino-foreign mathematical curriculum precisely,planning the teaching progress rationally,enhancing the effectiveness of curriculum implementation,stressing the analysis of teaching and learning situation,establishing and perfecting the system of teacher training,teaching evaluation and feedback,strengthening school-based curriculum construction,focusing on the research and development of advanced courses at high school and college level etc.In respect of the compilation and edition of Chinese high school math textbooks,we should pay attention to mathematical exploration,focus on mathematical applications,enrich the background of exercises,and improve the compilation of exercises,etc.