Examination of Visual Items in Secondary School Science Textbooks

Abstract

Textbooks are seen as the initial resources used in the science learning and teaching process to ensure that the curriculum goals are achieved, and almost half of the pages in the textbooks are covered with visual elements, this study aims to analyze the visual content of the secondary school science textbooks taught in Turkey in the 2022-2023 academic year. It is aimed to examine the elements according to their types, functions, and in-text association status. In this direction, in this research, which is planned as a document analysis, the coding scheme was used in the research of Akçay, Özgür-Kapıcı, and Akçay (2020). After examining 1713 images, it was concluded that more than half of the visuals in the science textbooks at each grade level (5, 6, 7, and 8) were schematized. Also, most of the visuals in the secondary school science textbooks are included in the main text. This is an essential result of the research because learners' interaction with multiple different and complementary stimuli simultaneously makes their learning more meaningful and permanent.