[[alternative]]A Content Analysis of Junior-High-School Natural Science and Living Technology Textbooks

[[abstract]]The purposes of this study were to analyze the content in all textbooks of the junior-high learning area－Natural Science and Living Technology （NS & LT）, in terms of its thematic concepts, design approaches, relationships and characteristics with curriculum guidelines, as well as to identify the implications resulted from the analyses to the further compilation and selection of textbook. Firstly, this study conducted a literature review to understand the background and features of NS & LT, as well as the content organizers and implementation status of this area. Secondly, this study developed a framework of textbook evaluation and analysis, which was further transformed to content categories tables. After that, 12 volumes of NS & LT textbooks for the 7th graders, which were from six publishers and approved by February 2003, were analyzed. Finally, the following 10 main conclusions were drawn：（1）Thematic concepts are not distributed well-balanced in all textbooks and lean to the concepts of biology. However, the inequality corresponds to the suggestions in official curriculum guidelines announced by the Ministry of Education in 2003 . （2）In the textbooks, discoveries of history and evidences of sciences are introduced mainly through stories and scientists . （3） A part of textbooks only include few scientific equations, experiments and manipulation, terminnology.（4）Figures, tables and explanation of concepts, are largely included in all textbooks teaching activities as well as question and discussion .（5）The content of all textbooks, along with many versions are still based on traditional subjects, and tends to value natural science （NS） rather than living technology（LT）.（6）The arrangements of chapters and sections in all textbooks are similar to those textbooks following previous curriculum guidelines, which content does meet the requirement to integrate traditional subjects via themes . （7）The design approaches of textbooks still lean to follow the mode of the previous curriculum guidelines .（8）The extent of correspondence among content and NS & LT benchmarks is low .（9）Topics related to LT are mainly introduced in teaching activities in partial textbooks. （10）Further investigation is necessary to examine if the compilation of textbooks meets the requirements prescribed in curriculum guidelines or not .