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An Analysis of Activities in Saudi Arabian Middle School Science Textbooks and Workbooks for the Inclusion of Essential Features of Inquiry

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Abstract

This study examines Saudi Arabian middle school science textbooks’ coverage of the essential features of scientific inquiry. All activities in the middle school science textbooks and workbooks were analyzed by using the scientific inquiry ‘essential features’ rubric. The results indicated that the essential features are included in about 59 % of the analyzed science activities. However, feature 2, ‘making learner give priority to evidence in responding to questions’ and feature 3, ‘allowing learner to formulate explanations from evidence’ appeared more frequently than the other three features (feature 1: engaging learner in scientifically oriented questions, feature 4: helping learner connect explanations to scientific knowledge, and feature 5: helping learner communicate and justify explanations to others), whether in the activities as a whole, or in the activities included in each of the four science domains (physical science, Earth science, life science and chemistry). These features are represented in almost all activities. This means that almost all activities in the middle school science textbooks and the workbooks include features 2 and 3. Meanwhile, the mean level of inclusion of the five essential features of scientific inquiry found in the middle school science textbooks and workbooks as a whole is 2.55. However, results found for features 1, 4, 5 and for in-level inclusion of the inquiry features in each of the science domains indicate that the inclusion of the essential inquiry features is teacher-centred. As a result, neither science textbooks nor workbooks provide students with the opportunity or encouragement to develop their inquiry skills. Consequently, the results suggest important directions for educational administrators and policy-makers in the preparation and use of science educational content.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted as part of a research group with the support of Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Obeikan, Chair for Science and Mathematics Education at King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ethical Procedure and Statement

The research meets all applicable standards with regard to the ethics of experimentation and research integrity, and the following is certified/declared true: The authors ensured that the research was not harmful to any stakeholders involved in developing the content materials analyzed in this study but instead the findings of the study were of great benefit to them. In order to conduct the study, the authors obtained ethics approval from the Chair for Science and Mathematics Education at King Saud University. The authors fully followed the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines when carrying out the research and preparing it for publication. (COPE website http://publicationethics.org/)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. King Saud University, The Excellence Research Centre of Science and Mathematics Education, Riyad, Saudi Arabia

    Abdulwali H. Aldahmash, Saeed M. Alshamrani & Saeed Almohi

  2. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Nasser S. Mansour

  3. Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Nasser S. Mansour

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  1. Abdulwali H. Aldahmash
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  2. Nasser S. Mansour
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  3. Saeed M. Alshamrani
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  4. Saeed Almohi
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Correspondence to Abdulwali H. Aldahmash.

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Please consider this manuscript for publication as a research article in your prestigious journal—Research in Science Education. Paper is containing original research and has not been submitted/published earlier in any journal and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. All authors have seen and approved the manuscript and have contributed significantly for the paper.

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Aldahmash, A.H., Mansour, N.S., Alshamrani, S.M. et al. An Analysis of Activities in Saudi Arabian Middle School Science Textbooks and Workbooks for the Inclusion of Essential Features of Inquiry. Res Sci Educ 46, 879–900 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-015-9485-7

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