ABSTRACT

This article reports an empirical study aiming to investigate students’ use of mathematics textbooks in Shanghai and England, with a comparative perspective. The study used mixed methods to collect the data through student questionnaire, student focus group interview and classroom observation. 161 Shanghai seventh- and eighth-grade students and 206 England year-seven and -eight students participated in the study. The results indicated that there existed considerable differences between Shanghai and England with respect to the roles that textbooks as curriculum resources play in students’ learning of mathematics. While Shanghai students relied heavily on textbooks and used them in various situations, had a strong sense of self-regulation behind the use, and thought highly of textbooks in their learning of mathematics, English students seldom incorporated textbooks in their learning of mathematics, used them mainly depending on teachers’ instructions, and held a relatively critical view of textbooks. The article also offered explanations and discussed the implications of the results concerning the teaching and learning of mathematics.

摘要

本文报告了一项实证研究，旨在以比较的视角调查上海和英国学生对数学教科书的使用情况。本研究采用混合方法，通过学生问卷调查、学生焦点小组访谈和课堂观察等方式收集数据。161名上海七、八年级学生和206名英国七、八年级学生参加了研究。结果表明，在教材作为课程资源在学生数学学习中的作用方面，上海与英国存在较大差异。而上海学生对教科书的依赖程度很高，在各种情况下使用，使用背后有很强的自我调节意识，在数学学习中对教科书评价很高，英语学生在数学学习中很少结合课本，主要依靠教师的指导使用课本，对课本持相对批判的态度。文章还解释并讨论了结果对数学教学和学习的影响。