Evaluation of questions in general chemistry textbooks according to the form of the questions and the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR): the case of intra- and intermolecular chemical bonding

Abstract

One way of checking tο what extent instructional textbooks achieve their aim is to evaluate the questions they contain. In this work, we analyze the questions that are included in the chapters on chemical bonding of ten general chemistry textbooks. We study separately the questions on intra- and on intermolecular bonding, with the former outnumbering the latter by far. Two aspects of the questions are examined: their form (closed or open type, including their various forms), and the kind of knowledge they test (declarative or procedural knowledge). Questions were further partitioned into four categories, following Pearson and Johnson's and Raphael's schemes of Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) in which: (1) text-centered questions are divided into (a) 'precisely there', and (b) 'think and search'; and (2) cognition-centered questions that are divided into 'you and the author' and 'on your own'. The following conclusions were drawn: closed-type questions outnumber by far the open-type ones, and are mainly of the 'short answer' category; the majority test for declarative knowledge, with fewer questions testing for procedural knowledge; there was complete lack of metacognitive questions; no questions were found that deal with relevant experimental processes. Implications for textbook authors and teachers are discussed.