Research trends of mathematics textbooks: An analysis of the journal articles published from 1963 to 2021

Jeong Suk Pang1   Min Young Oh2,*   

1Professor, Korea National University of Education
2Graduate student, Korea National University of Education

Abstract

Mathematics textbooks as the main resources to support mathematical teaching and learning are used importantly in Korean lessons. Although the scope of mathematics textbook research has been expanded and the research has increased, few studies have analyzed the overall trends of mathematics textbook research in Korea. This study analyzes the overall trends of textbook research on 418 papers pertinent to mathematics textbooks published in domestic mathematics education journals. The results of this study showed that the proportion of textbook analysis research was the highest, followed by textbook use and textbook development research in order. There were more textbook studies at the elementary school level than at the middle or high school levels. Regarding textbook analysis studies, the most frequent topic was to analyze how specific mathematical concepts were presented in textbooks. Regarding textbook use studies, many studies asked both teachers and students to review the appropriateness of textbooks under development or analyzed the perception and use of specific activities of textbooks based on a survey. Regarding textbook development studies, the most popular topics included the directions and examples of new development, such as storytelling-based or electronic textbooks. This paper finally presented implications for textbook research in light of the domestic mathematics education context and the international mathematics textbook research trends.

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.Categorization of mathematics textbooks research.