The DOI matches its Crossref record; the references it cites are not checked yet.
A comparative analysis of the intended curriculum and its presentation in 10th grade chemistry textbooks from seven Arabic countries
Abstract
This study investigates the nature of intended secondary chemistry curricula, as they are represented by chemistry textbooks, from seven Arabic countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Syria. The curricula are evaluated through analysis of the officially approved 10th grade chemistry textbooks used nationwide in all of these countries. The textbooks were analysed by qualitative content analysis in three cycles. The cycles focused on technical characteristics, the representation of the content, and an overall rating of the intended curriculum based on the findings from the first two rounds in connection to the ideas of the curriculum emphasis and curriculum orientation. The overall rating focuses on the orientation of the intended curricula, the emphases behind them, and indicators of any student-centred pedagogy. Our findings show that the textbooks differ widely. Some textbooks from this sample proved to be very traditional and purely organized in terms of the chemistry content with very limited connections of the content to modern aspects or applications of chemistry. The curricula in Algeria, Kuwait and Palestine were found to be of this kind. The textbooks from these countries basically operate a fundamental chemistry and structure-of-the-discipline approach. Other textbooks actually represent more modern approaches in chemistry teaching by providing a recognizable degree of contextualisation or even societal orientation. This is the case for Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser degree, for Jordan. In the case of Palestine, the textbook focuses almost exclusively on content in technical and engineering contexts. Our analysis shows that there is no clear relationship between the intended chemistry curricula and certain characteristics in the corresponding countries, namely the regional background, the level of economic strength, and the degree of traditionalism.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Textbooks direct the orientation of the curriculum and provide guidance about pedagogical approaches.
“In this sense, textbooks direct the orientation of the curriculum (Roseman et al., 2010; Khaddoor et al., 2017) and provide guidance about pedagogical approaches (Souza and Porto, 2012).”
From An analysis of the visual representation of redox reactions and related content in Brazilian secondary school chemistry textbooks (2020) · cites this paper as Khaddoor et al., 2017
Citations
The citation lists are queued
They are fetched later and appear here then.
References 29 · Cited by 25
Research works printed but not linked: 16
- Al-Ma'aiteah S. A., (2005), Scientific literacy concepts included in grade 8 Jordanian science textbooks and the extent to which the students in Al-Qaser region achieved scientific literacy, unpublished Master’s thesis, Mutah University
- Badran A., (1993), The status of science teaching in the Gulf countries, in Debs M. (ed.), Proceedings of the first scientific conference on the future of science and math teaching and the needs of Arab society, Beirut: Arab Development Institute, pp. 154–172 (in Arabic)
- Batsh A. M. (2006), The characteristics of evaluation activities in secondary school earth science and chemistry textbooks, unpublished Master's thesis, Jordan University
- Bybee R. W. and DeBoer G., (1993), Goals for the Science Curriculum, in Gable D. (ed.), Handbook of research on science teaching and learning, Washington: NSTA, pp. 357–387
- Cook M., (2008), Students' Comprehension of Science Concepts Depicted in Textbook Illustrations, Electr. J. Sci. Educ., 12(1), 1–14
- Dagher Z., (2009), Epistemology of science in curriculum standards of four Arab countries, in BouJaoude S. and Dagher Z. (ed.), The world of science education: Arab states, Rotterdam: Sense, pp. 41–60 · DOI
- Dagher Z. and BouJaoude S., (2009), Challenges and opportunities for science education in the Arab region, in BouJaoude S. and Dagher Z. (ed.), The world of science education: Arab states, Rotterdam: Sense, pp. 265–277 · DOI
- Devetak I. and Vogrinc J., (2013), The criteria for evaluating the quality of the science textbooks, in Khine M. S. (ed.), Critical analysis of science textbooks, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 3–15 · DOI · Paper page
- Eilks I., Rauch F., Ralle B. and Hofstein A., (2013), How to balance the chemistry curriculum between science and society, in Eilks I. and Hofstein A. (ed.), Teaching Chemistry – A studybook, Rotterdam: Sense, pp. 1–36
- Ktait G. Y., (2002). Evaluation of the second secondary physics textbook and the level of its readability, unpublished Master's thesis, Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies
- Nashwan Y., (1993), Evaluation of secondary school science teaching objectives in the Arab world, in Debs M. (ed.), Proceedings of the first scientific conference on the future of science and mathematics teaching and the needs of Arab society, pp. 122–141
- Shafea M. B., Mazzooz I., Ben Wareth A. K., Ben Issa A. and Azzizo A., (2013), Physical science book, first grade, secondary level (chemistry part), People's Democratic Republic of Algeria: Ministry of National Education, pp. 59–170 (in Arabic)
- Sjöström J. and Eilks I., (2017), Reconsidering different visions of scientific literacy and science education based on the concept of Bildung, in Dori Y. J., Mevarech Z. and Bake D. (ed.), Cognition, Metacognition, and Culture in STEM Education, Dordrecht: Springer, in print · DOI
- Stern L. and Roseman J. E., (2004), Can middle-school science textbooks help students learn important ideas? Findings from Project 2061's curriculum evaluation study: life science, J. Res. Sci. Teach., 41, 538–568 · DOI · Paper page
- Van Den Akker J., (1998), The science curriculum: Between ideals and outcomes, in Fraser B. and Tobin K. (ed.), International handbook of science education, Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 421–447 · DOI
- Wei B. and Thomas G., (2005), Rationale and approaches for embedding scientific literacy into the new junior secondary school chemistry curriculum in the People's Republic of China, Int. J. Sci. Educ., 27, 1477–1493 · DOI
Metadata
- Authors
- Khaddoor, R., Al-Amoush, S., & Eilks, I.
- Affiliations
- University of Bremen (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Eilks, Ingo
- Venue
- Chemistry Education Research and Practice
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Published
- 2017
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 375-385
- ISSN
- 1109-4028 (ISSN-L)
- 1756-1108
- OpenAlex
- W2589986658
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 9.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Chemistry Education Research and Practice (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Education › Chemistry Education and Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies
- Keywords
- intended curriculum, chemistry textbook, secondary chemistry education, 10th grade, curriculum evaluation, curriculum orientation, curriculum emphasis, student-centered learning, contextualization, traditionalism, textbook comparison
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
