A Content Analysis of the Physics Textbook 2 for the Students of Mathematics and Physics Based on Plsek’s (1997) Creativity Training Model

Textbooks, as the preliminary medium for expressing thoughts and exploring/discussing ideas, play a vital role in learning. In centralized educational systems of countries such as Iran, teaching and learning are often textbook-based. In some cases, the selection of inefficient and improper materials along with the inconsistency between the difficulty level of materials and comprehension level of students make the learning task difficult and unlikely to produce the desired results. Therefore, in designing an effective textbook, educational activities and learning experiences should be formulated in such a way that they reinforce each other. Moreover, they should be consistent with students’ capabilities to develop the desired behavioral patterns in them. Consifering these, textbook analysis should be done in order to maximize the effectiveness of educational activities and curricula. Content analysis is a research method that systematically and objectively describes the obvious content of communication. In this method, messages and information are systematically coded and properly categorized so that the researcher can analyze them quantitatively. Plsek (1997), as one of the experts in the field of content presentation in curriculum planning, emphasizes the importance of students’ activities and considers creativity training process in curriculum content as the goal of education. Plsek totally reformulates training as a subjective, rather than objective, process from objective to subjectiverelying on research and exploration. According to him, in simple terms, guided creativity entails  having purposeful mental movements which can help students that avoid being trapped in cognitive mechanisms during their process. In proposing his creativity training model for in natural sciences, Plsek stated that every day we live in this world like any other person, but creative thinking, careful observation of the world, and thoughtful analysis begin with how problems can lead to an answer or failure. These mental activities can create a reservoir of concepts in memory which, in turn, can lead to the production of new ideas. This way, our minds, in an attempt to address specific needs, actively search for the connection between the existing concepts as well as the balance between satisfaction and instant judgment, and pick up and reinforce new ideas picking up and reinforcing new ideas. Ideas cannot be constructive unlessthey are implemented, i. e. every new idea which is implemented and put in to practice can change our world and lead to the cycle of observation and analysis.

The aim of this study was to analyze the content of the Physics Textbook 2 for Iranian students of Mathematics and Physics at Grade 11 . To this end, Plsek’s Creativity Training Model in natural sciences was used. The study, Specifically, is anattempt to answer the following researh questions:With How actively the texts, exercises, and figures of the Physics Textbook 2 are presented through the newly adopted approach to the textbook compilation?Considering Plsek’s guided creativity model , to what extent do the texts, figures, and activities of the textbook can lead to creativity development in Iranian students of Mathematics and Physics at Grade 11?

This research was conducted through the use of quantitative content analysis method. The statistical population study material was the new published  Physics Textbook 2, compiled during 2017-2018 academic years for Iranian students of Mathematics and Physics at Grade 11. The book was presented in 134 pages and included four chapters on static electricity, electric current and direct current circuits, magnetism, and electromagnetic induction and alternating current, respectively. The context unit of the research study sample were the texts, figures, and final exercises of each chapter and the record unit included topics of the textbook. Sample size was exactly the same as population size. To analyze the textbook content, a five-stage coding scheme was implemented. In the first stage, the context and record units were identified. Categories of the William Romay method  were then used to differentiate between active and inactive units . In the third stage, the participation coefficient was determined for each part and inactive units were excluded. In the fourth stage, the active units were divided into applied and creative categories and applied category was dismissed. Finally, the creative units were coded based on indicators of Plsek’s guided cycle in stage five.

The obtained results revealed that the texts, exercises, and figures of the textbook focused 50, 50, and 78% on the attention principle, respectively, 33, 48, and 19% on the escape principle, respectively; and 17, 2, and 3% on the movement principle, respectively. Accordingly, it was concluded thatthe content of the Physics Textbook 2 was not balanced in terms of the Creativity Training model resented by Plsek (1997) and the textbook did not well conform to the three principles of attention, escape, and movement, either. As a consequence, the book may pose challenges to creativity developmen in learners.

Based on the broad definitions of the term creativity, novelty and appropriateness are two main criteria for making judgements about creativity. The results of quantitative content analysis of the Physics Textbook 2 indicated that while there was special emphasis on the attention principle in the textbook, the other two principles of escape and movement were considered only in some aspects. Therefore, comprehensive observance of the creativity components was not well met and most of the components were disregarded. Accordingly,  revision of some chapters of the textbook in terms of the level of compliance with creativity components seems necessary. The results of this study were in accordance with those of the previous studies dealing with other textbooks. Previous studies have addressed intellectual growth and creativity development in terms of educational goals and curriculum content, revealing that the surveyed textbooks do not provide reasonable and sufficient grounds for intellectual growth and creativity development in students.