Comparison of secondary mathematics textbooks on the topic of equations in Australia, China, Singapore, England, and the United States

Abstract

Mathematics textbooks play an important role in providing learning opportunities for students, and connections have been emphasized in the curriculum reforms of many countries. However, few studies have conducted comparative research on mathematics textbooks from the perspective of connections, particularly with respect to the difficulty of the textbooks. In this study, we propose a comparative framework based on the perspective of connections, utilizing social network analysis, along with adjacency matrices, to conduct a comparative study on the difficulty of the topic of equations in secondary mathematics textbooks in Australia (the AUPM series), China (CNM), Singapore (SGNDM), England (EEGM), and the United States (USRM). A total of 3,843 problems, which included 12,062 connections on the topic of equations, were coded and analysed. We found that the SGNDM series had the greatest difficulty, followed by the CNM, EEGM, AUPM, and USRM. The method utilized for data analysis in this study makes a theoretical contribution to analysing the difficulty of mathematics textbooks, with practical implications for textbook writers and teachers. The study also extends the use of social network analysis in comparative mathematics textbook research.