"Evaluation of Middle School Biology Textbooks in Light of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Standards

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the content of biology textbooks for the first, second, and third grades of middle school in light of the standards set by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. To achieve this goal, the researcher used content analysis, which is one of the descriptive research methods. The research tool consisted of a content evaluation checklist based on the AAAS standards, translated into Arabic. After statistically processing the results, the researcher analyzed and evaluated the middle school biology textbooks (for the academic year 2023-2024) in light of the standards checklist. Using Holsti’s formula, the researcher calculated the reliability coefficient in two ways: the first between the researcher and herself over time, which was (85%), and the second between the researcher and other analysts, which yielded a reliability coefficient of (80%) for the first center and (83%) for the second center.After evaluating the books based on the AAAS standards, which included five main criteria with (8) sub-criteria and (31) indicators, the total number of occurrences across the three textbooks reached (3363). The first criterion (alignment between main ideas (objectives) and content) was ranked first with a frequency of (1180) and a percentage of (35%). The second criterion (accuracy) had a frequency of (887) and a percentage of (26.4%). The third criterion (structure) had a frequency of (551) and a percentage of (15.1%), indicating a low level of integration. The fourth criterion (coherence between ideas) had a frequency of (394) and a percentage of (11.9%). Finally, the fifth criterion (scientific cultural background) had a frequency of (391) with a percentage of (11.6%). Based on the previous results, the researcher recommends that those responsible for evaluating biology curricula utilize the standards set by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and work on modifying and improving them