School Textbooks and Lifelong Learning: Textbooks as Tools for Learning How to Learn. An Exploratory Case Study: United States of America.

N

106

National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington, DC.

Basic Skills; Biology; Case Studies; Daily Living Skills; Educational Needs; Educational Practices; Learning Strategies; Lifelong Learning; Needs Assessment; Questionnaires; Secondary Education; Social Studies; Student Attitudes; Surveys; Textbook Content; Textbook Preparation; Textbook Publication; Textbook Research; Textbook Selection; Textbooks

A study explored the effectiveness of secondary school textbooks as tools for developing attitudes or skills that are essential for lifelong learning. During the study, a student textbook review questionnaire was administered to about 60 students from five high schools in the Portland, Oregon area. The students were asked to evaluate eight social studies and four biology textbooks from the perspective of how frequently the textbooks explicitly required users to develop attitudes or skills in the following areas: behavior (information seeking, problem solving, independence, looking for relationships among disciplines, and utilizing community resources for learning); life skills (preparing for careers, higher learning, adult life roles, and constructive use of leisure time); attitude (cooperating with others, developing curiosity, viewing learning as a source of personal satisfaction, and setting goals and standards of accomplishment); and basic skills. Based on the students' responses, recommendations were made calling for more emphasis on relating facts and figures to students' own experiences and relating textbook content to students' present and future activities as family members, workers, and citizens. More emphasis on basic skills in math, communication, and problem solving and greater concern for student attitudes and values were other needs identified by the study. (MN)

1984

ED235325