Over a third of images in middle school life science textbooks prompt students to compare visual units¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2027: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Of 313 coded textbook images, 116 (37%) were identified as involving comparison. → Benjamin D. Jee 2022

Evidence¶

Benjamin D. Jee 2022¶

Benjamin D. Jee, Bryan J. Matlen, Monica Greenlaw, Nina Simms, Dedre Gentner. (2022). Spatial supports for comparison in educational science images. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-022-09599-0

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Content analysis of 313 images sampled from two chapters each of the three most popular U.S. middle school science textbooks (176 pages, anatomy and evolution). The authors report "116 (37%) were identified as involving com- parison," with evolution images slightly more likely to prompt comparison than anatomy images.

"Of the 313 total images, 116 (37%) were identified as involving com- parison. Images in the evolution chapters were slightly more likely to involve comparison"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Intervening visual units were moderately common and appeared more often in structure diagrams than process diagrams
• Comparison prompts are strongly concentrated in process diagrams (93%) and rare in photos (20%)
• Fewer than half of textbook images requiring comparison have an optimal spatial layout (direct placement) for structural alignment
• Anatomy images were more likely than evolution images to have direct placement only