Comparative Analysis Of The History Of Science Content In Primary School Science Textbooks

Education on the history of science is of great value,which plays an important role in the formation of scientific concepts,the improvement of scientific thinking ability,the cultivation of inquiry and practical ability,and the establishment of a correct scientific attitude.Science textbooks are an important carrier for science history education,and primary schools are the enlightenment and key stage of science history education,but the research on the content of science history in current primary school science textbooks has not received enough attention.In order to reveal the similarities and differences in the history of science in different primary school science textbooks,the study takes the Xiangke Edition,Renjiao Ejiao Edition and Jiren Edition primary school science textbooks as examples to compare and analyze the three sets of textbooks.This study adopts the comparative research method and content analysis method,and analyzes the history of science content in the Xiangke Edition,Renjiao Ejiao Edition,and Jiren Edition primary school science textbooks from three dimensions: the distribution of history of science,the type of history of science and the presentation of the history of science according to the category table of the history of science analysis of primary school science textbooks,and selects the representative content of science history in the three sets of textbooks from different fields of science as case comparison,so as to reveal the commonalities and differences of science history in the three sets of textbooks.It is found that the content of the history of science in the three sets of textbooks has commonalities and differences.The commonalities are as follows: from the perspective of the distribution of the history of science,the three sets of textbooks cover a certain amount of history of science content,and the content is mainly concentrated in senior primary school;The content of the history of science in the three sets of textbooks covers a wide range of countries,and the geographical richness reflects the openness of the textbook writers in the selection of materials for the history of science.In terms of the chronology of the history of science,the textbook deals with a small number of the modern history of science content.From the perspective of the type of history of science,the three sets of textbooks all contain the history of science content with the themes of "scientists","scientific development" and "science technology and society",of which most of the content of the history of science focuses on the type of "scientific development",but the introduction of the textbooks is relatively simplified.The history of science on the theme of "scientists" is small in number and briefly expressed biographical information and personal characteristics of scientists.From the perspective of the presentation of the history of science,the three sets of textbooks all focus on presenting the history of science in the form of combining pictures and texts,which is in line with the level of children’s physical and mental development.The differences between the three sets of textbooks are manifested in three aspects: one of the differences is the distribution of the history of science.There are differences in the number of scientific history,which is reflected in the largest number of scientific history in the Xiangke Edition of the textbook,followed by the Renjiao Ejiao Edition,and the least in the Jiren Edition.The chronological distribution of the history of science has its own characteristics,which is reflected in the fact that the history of science in the Xiangke Edition textbook accounts for a large proportion of the ancient part,followed by the modern part.The Renjiao Ejiao Edition of the textbook has the largest number of scientific history in the modern part,followed by the ancient part;The Jiren Edition of the textbook is more inclined to present the history of science covering the development of science in multiple eras.The second difference is the type of history of science.The types of scientific development have different priorities.For example,the Xiangke Edition of the textbook focuses on the type of "mentioning a scientific discovery",while the Renjiao Ejiao Edition focuses on the type of "describing a scientific discovery",which involves more about the process and details of scientific discovery in the expression of the history of science,while the type with the highest proportion of descriptions of scientific development in the Jiren Edition of the textbook is "mentioning a less clear process".The third difference is the presentation of the history of science.The columns are very different,and the educational functions of the history of science are different.The study also makes a case analysis of the history of science in three sets of textbooks and obtains enlightenment from four aspects.First,the "starting point event first" principle followed in the selection of the history of science.That is,some of the earliest major scientific events or key historical events in scientific development are selected as the starting point of scientific historical research,and are given priority to be presented in the textbooks.Second,the functional orientation of science education determines the content and presentation of the history of science.The same or different histories of science are used in the same or different topics in science textbooks,with different specific contents and presentation methods,which depend on the function of the history of science in the textbooks.In addition,the degree to which the history of science in different textbooks differs in presentation stems from the different emphasis of their educational functions.Third,the arrangement of the history of science should be based on students’ prior experience and cognitive level.Fourth,the history of science not only reflects the characteristics of the times but also carries the practical mission.Based on the above research conclusions,the paper makes suggestions from the perspectives of textbook compilation and teacher teaching.In the compilation of science history in primary school science textbooks,it is recommended to add the modern part of the history of science materials to understand the process of modern scientific development;Increase the theme of "scientists" to cultivate the spirit of science;Strengthen the integrity and depth of the description of scientific development,and show the true state of scientific development.In terms of teacher teaching,first,we should pay attention to the accumulation of knowledge of the history of science and grasp the process of scientific development;Second,it is necessary to enhance the understanding of the nature of science and truly give play to the educational function of the history of science;Third,we should integrate the resources of scientific history to realize the creative use of teaching materials.