Preguntas en los libros de texto de Ciencias Naturales de Educación Primaria: ¿Procesando o reproduciendo contenidos?

Abstract

Textbooks are the didactic resource of choice in Primary Education, although their role is being questioned. Our study assesses the role of this resource as an evaluation tool, analyzing the types of questions that appear in the block of ecosystems of seven textbooks published in the legislative framework of the last three Spanish educational laws (LOGSE, LOE and LOMCE). The questions of that books have been classified as factual questions (memory) and process questions (productive). Results show that evaluation in Spain has traditionally been based on the first ones that promote rote learning, but the number of process questions in the textbooks has increased after the LOMCE’s publication. However, there is still a long way to go towards reaching the appearance of true thought-provoking questions in textbooks.