A Comparison Of Science Textbooks For Grade One Between China And The United States

STEM education is a comprehensive education integrating the four disciplines of science(S),technology(T),engineering(E)and mathematics(M).The purpose of STEM education is to cultivate inter-disciplinary high-tech talents with innovative abilities in the context of economic globalization.STEM education started in the United States and is currently receiving attention from many countries around the world.China's compulsory primary school science curriculum standards(2017 edition)explicitly advocates the integration of STEM education in primary school science,and adds STEM education related content in the new version of primary school textbooks.In order to understand the STEM education of primary school in China and the United States and try to provide some useful references for the compilation of science textbooks for primary schools in China,this study selected one set of science textbooks for primary school in China and the United States,are selected by jiangsu phoenix education publishing house of SCIENCE(hereinafter referred to as Sue version)and Macmillan/McGraw Hill publishing company of "SCIENCE · A CLOSER LOOK"(SACL),using ST∑@M pyramid analysis framework,the two editions of STEM education are compared,Research findings:(1)From the analysis of the STEM education overview of the two editions of textbooks,it can be seen that the former poetry,core issues and themes in the expansion are mainly distributed in the life science,geographical science and material science of the S type,indicating that the two editions of textbooks take the S education as the core.(2)From the perspective of case study,both textbooks have infiltrated STEM education and both pay attention to the correlation between STEM education and real life.The STEM education in SACL textbooks is obvious,while the STEM education in su textbooks is not.(3)From the perspective of the overall distribution of STEM knowledge points,SACL textbook knowledge is widely distributed,and there is little overlap between the two versions.The SACL version has about three times as many knowledge points as the su version.In the two editions of textbooks,the number of s-type knowledge points is absolutely superior,while the number of e-type and m-type knowledge points is insufficient.(4)From T,E,S,M parts knowledge distribution,Sue version of textbooks on S dimension knowledge coverage than SACL textbooks is wide,but the emphasis of the two countries are basically the same,Sue version of textbooks T dimension version than SACL breadth of knowledge points,two editions in E and M dimension of knowledge coverage is narrow.Some Suggestions are put forward based on the results: STEM education in primary school science textbooks should be more explicit,and the total amount of STEM knowledge should be appropriately increased,especially the M type of knowledge.