Textbook use within and beyond Chinese mathematics classrooms: A study of 12 secondary schools in Kunming and Fuzhou of China

Fan, Lianghuo, Chen, Jingan, Zhu, Yan, Qiu, Xiaolan and Hu, Qiuzhong (2004) Textbook use within and beyond Chinese mathematics classrooms: A study of 12 secondary schools in Kunming and Fuzhou of China. In, Fan, Lianghuo, Wong, Ngai-Ying, Cai, Jinfa and Li, Shiqi (eds.) How Chinese learn mathematics: Perspectives from insiders. World Scientific, pp. 228-261.

Abstract

This chapter presents a study which investigated how teachers and students used textbooks within and beyond Chinese mathematics classrooms. Data were collected from 36 mathematics teachers and 272 students in 12 secondary schools in Fuzhou and Kunming, two major cities in Mainland China, through questionnaires, classroom observations, and interviews. The study provided a general picture of the textbook use by Chinese teachers and students of mathematics. The results showed that textbooks were the main but not the only source for teachers to make decisions about what to teach and how to teach. For students, textbooks were their main learning resource for both in-class exercise and homework. No significant differences were found between teachers with different genders, experiences, from different regions and schools in their use of textbooks, though some significant differences were found between students in the two cities in their use of textbooks. Explanations for the results are offered in the chapter.

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