Activity- Physical Presentation of Text

[gonz12]

One of the main textbooks required for Social Studies is "Modules in Social Studies with SBA Guide by Rampersad Ramsawk & Ralph R.Umraw". This text is one of the most student friendly and attractive textbooks in my opinion. It is colourful and appealing from the first to the last page. The information is neatly arranged in short paragraphs and point form to facilitate easy reading for the students. The texts are also fonted and sized according to the headings, sub-headings.
The book is divided into modules and sub-divided into individual chapters. After each chapter is a text box entailing key terms that were found in the chapter and a few revision questions on the chapter. This is a good revision and reinforcement feature. Also, the dividers and "chapter-page" labeling at the top corner of the page aid in easy navigation of the book.
There are many photographs, illustrations, charts and maps that allow students to understand and remember the text better. This will be to the benefit of our visual learners and for those students who are not exposed to many things around them.
The book is not short of an index and a glossary to aid in easy access of terms and concepts.

My only disadvantage with the book is that it is pretty heavy. I would suggest that the book be divided into separate modules that could be covered per term. Reason being is that students are demotivated to carry the book because of its size and weight. Also our secondary schools lack locker systems. In general this is a book that I would recommend to all Social Studies students and teachers.

[qvidal]

I have examined the "A Complete Mathematics Course for Secondary Schools" textbook by Raymond Toolsie. The textbook is very attractive and has moved from the traditional mathematics textbooks to a more modern and interactive text. It comprises of coloured pictures for example, pictures of items that are circular (wheels, tambo, tables etc) for the topic " The Circle". It also has the Headings in colored text boxes. The solutions given for any given problem are completed in coloured boxes. It has subheadings, tables, time lines, answers for exercises for each topic at the back of text, table of content, graphs. The textbook also provides real life examples and pictures, for instance there is a photo of the pyramids found in Egypt, photos of instruments students use in school. It has text boxes with thinking captions of students explain concepts.

I believe the text book is very helpful and interactive for the secondary school mathematics students. Because mathematics is regarded as difficult and useless students need to have a fun and interactive textbook. This textbook provides all of these qualities. Students can use the textbook without the teacher, because it explains step by step procedures and provides real life examples of situations.

[geugene]

The text which I examined is a second edition math text book by Raymond Toolsie. It is entitled MATHEMATICS A COMPLETE COURSE.
The text features and descriptions are as follows
1. Title- major topics covered in the book e.g Sets, Algebra
2. Table of contents- gives information on the outlining of the text and page numbers.
3. Text boxes- They highlight key terms and phrases related to math vocabulary
4. Sub-titles/headings- provide guidance as to the main math topic being focused on.
5. Index- a list of words commonly used in the text and the page numbers associated with them (where it can be found in the text).
6. Colour- the textbook only consists of black and green font colours, the font size is 12 and on very rare occasions do they use a different size.

I do not think that this recommended text is appealing to the readers simply because the text features are not attractive and for these other reasons.
1. The text is too dull. There is limited use of colour, diagrams and pictures.
2. It does not cater to the various learning styles.
3. The information presented is too abstract.
4. There are too many examples which may mislead or confuse students.
5. The fact that there are several pages may discourage the students and
demotivate them to read the textbook.

I do make the following recommendations for future reference
1. Provide more variety of colours, utilize more diagrams and pictures that the students can relate to and find more appealing.
2. More hands on activities could be included, audio cds and dvds can be included in the package to cater to the various learning styles.
3. The information presented should be a mixture of enactive, iconic and symbolic so that students will not find the instructions to abstract.
4. The examples provided should not be excessive. Students do not have to feel overwhelmed with several examples and exercises from the text and the number of pages.

[kmesmin]

The textbook examined was Building Construction: Principles and Practices by Denis Walton. This book was recommended for the forth and fifth form students.

I think that the book is well presented. The information presented is clear but at times very limited. There are various forms of text features present in the book they include:
- text ( bold, color, italics)
- headings
- subheadings
- table of content - which indicates where to find certain content
- glossary
- index
- diagrams- were used to show students what things would look like
- photographs

I believe that the book is presented for the targeted group, but i always believe that there could be a few changes in the text for instances the color scheme of the book need a little attention because the only colors present in the book are black and blue and also students show be able to differentiate between the headings and the subheading.

[ehilaire25]

the required text used in building technology is called construction technology by R. Chudley. this textbook consist of a table of contents, heading and sub-headings, diagrams, cross-sections, tables, maps, index and bullets. page numbers make finding information easy and can be found in both table of contents and index. keys words are underlined or bold but no glossary is available. the downfall to this book is that it is too clustered with information on British standards and less on Caribbean designs. apart from this issue the text is ideal for construction technology but requires some colour to attract students and maybe some real life pictures instead of drawings.

[ndubois]

One of the textbooks used in my area of specialization Business is Principles of Business for CXC 4th edition by BMC ABIRAJ. This textbook comprises of many text features that makes it user friendly or makes it easier for students to gain access of the information.
Text features embedded in the principles of Business textbook are:
1. Cover page:which gives information on the title of the book and the author.
2. Table of Contents: which is separated in three main sections and the topics under each section, along with the pages on which they are found.
3. Main Chapters: before each chapter has a summary and the key features of the chapter which are in bold.
4. Headings and subheadings: are all written in bold with the heading being in a larger font size than the sub.
5. Text: the text consist of the same style except for the main points or key words which are not in bold but written in italics.
6. Text box; this is used in the book to highlight the objectives of the topics in a chapter and also its content.
7.Diagrams,flow charts, & table: used to depict various processes or adds to the visual representation of a concept.
8. Index: this is part of the textbook making searching for keyword or terms easier for students.
9. The textbook also include multiple choice and essay typed questions at the end of each chapter. This helps students go through what they have learnt.
The textbook is a good source of gaining information for business students. The textbook lacks a glossary, colour, and more visuals. The textbook will be more user friendly if those features are added. With that done students will be more motivated to interact with the text.

[ljnpaul]

My subject area is English Language, specifically Literature and my required text is "Green Days By the River" by Michael Anthony. this text is required for form two language students.

This text is void of many if not all of the text features which are found in the other subject areas. there are no diagrams or pictures displaying the multiple scenes in the text and consists mainly of words printed on a page and separated only by chapters.

Due to the fact that this is to be used by form two students i do not think that it is appropriately presented. students at that age still require some form of visual representation of what they are reading and the endless pages of black and white print serves to turn students away from reading the text. I think that more illustrations should be provided in the text as well as a map demonstrating the landscape in which the story is taking place. the implementation of some of these text features will serve to motivate students to read the text and make it seem more real and authentic to them.

[kstange]

The prescribed textbook for Integrated Science at the lower school level is New Lower Secondary Science 1 and 2, Secondary Edition. The book contains pictures and diagrams on every page that assist the students in understanding abstract scientific concepts. Also found in the book are text boxes with science tit bits, interesting questions, fun facts and diagrams. These provide additional information and help stimulate the students' thinking. The text has a table of contents and an index, both very detailed so students will have no difficulty locating information within the text. It also has a glossary where most of the words they are not familiar with are defined. In general the textbook is quite effective for teaching lower school students. However I believe a more information could be added to supplement the many pictures and diagrams. The paragraphs are very short and do not have sufficient information about the concepts presented. once this is addressed, the book will even more beneficial to the students.

[jchicotlouisy]

The newly prescribed Mathematics text has proven that much thought, practice and experiments have been undertaken by the authors to enhance text organization (including both structure and physical features). At each grade level, a different Mathematics text is available. The illustrations, examples, explanations, descriptions and all other features of the texts do cater to the specific age groups. The general organization of the text is well structured and I must commend the authors. Looking back at the Mathematics text which was used during my Secondary School days, shows how texts have improved as they now cater to all learners.

With reference to the Form One text; a great effort was made in making the transition a lot smoother for students. Moving from the primary school frame of mind where narrative texts (which focuses more on fantasy) were heavily focused on to expository or informational text (which is more authentic), is clearly evident in the text.

[lgidharry]

I am a Foreign Language major focusing on the subject French. The prescribed textbook for the grade 7 to 11 is currently Equipe (Book 1 to 4 respectively) by Daniele Bourdais, Sue Finnie and Anna Lise Gordon. This book has been the prescribed textbook for many years now and as an educator, I personally believe this choice should be revisited. I have chosen to focus on Equipe 2 as I have firsthand experience in using the text to teach. This text book has many features which one may consider user friendly for students. For instance, it is very colourful in nature, with pictures and colourful headings and sub headings, thus attracting the students and help keeping them focus. Its table of contents and index makes it easy to use. There are also many textboxes which can be found on most if not all the pages summarising key points and focusing students attention on specific grammar points which they are supposed to remember. Other text features include graphs, maps, and graphic organisers. This text book is very small and therefore students are not intimidated by the size (as very often students believe the bigger the text book the more work they have to do or the harder the subject).

I am of the belief that because of the text features of this text book, it is appropriate for students of this age group. However, I do believe that more focus should be placed on listening, as learning a Foreign Language comprises of not only reading and writing, but also speaking and listening. Furthermore, more expository texts should be included in the textbook to expose the students to pieces of writing which they are expected to produce.

Overall, a well presented text!

[iernest]

The text book by A. Bankole and S. Bland called "Technical Drawing 1- Plane and solid geometry" is one of the textbooks recommended for form 1-3 for Technical Drawing but can be useful to all forms.

The text book consist of a number of text features including:
1. Table of contents
2. Index
3. Headings
4. Sub-headings
5. Text
6. Photographs and illustration
7. Diagrams
8. Cut away diagrams

I think the information presented in this text book is well presented for the age group because the text and general information is simple and is at the reading levels of students of that age, however I think that the book is too newspaper like, a lot more colour should be added to it.

[cwinter]

Subject: Mathematics
Text: Oxford Mathematics for the Caribbean
Author: Nicholas Goldberg with Neva Cameron-Edwards
Fifth Edition
Grade level: Eight

This book along with the other three in its collection are a great improvement in comparison to the previous Mathematics text books. The older texts may have met the needs of some students however in my perspective, this new texts caters to almost all the learning styles.
Firsty, it contains a table of contents with colour coded listed chapters and their page numbers. The chapters within the book are also coloured corresponding to their colours in the table of contents. Hence, students do not necessarily have to search for chapters using their page number but by their colour.
The text contains cartoon and real life photographs which help students to visualise the information within the word problems. For example, along with a word problem about mangoes and grapefruits, there was a real life photograph of the market with many fruits including mangoes and grapefruits and market sellers. For a problem on temperature, low temperature was demonstrated with a cartoon photograph of a man in snow.
There are also text boxes which provide students with additional practice by providing a link to a math site with more practice exercises on the concept.
It contains a index, headings, subheadings, words that are coloured, bolded or in different font style and size in some cases.
However, there is no glossary and very limited worded problems and explanations.
I believe that the text book is generally well presented as it is student friendly, provides authentic situations and photographs as well as some fantasy and the book comprised of many direct calculation exercises.
It however puts students at a disadvantage in some cases such as the limited worded text replaced by plentiful exercise. Mathematics requires practice for success but it also requires students to interact, become familiar and use the mathematics vocabulary which comprises of both numbers and words. Students are always posed with worde problems in assessments and so I believe that there should have been a equal distribution of direct number calculations and word problems. I also believe that there should be more explanations of concepts as the text book serves as a teacher for some students. This disadvantage in terms of the mathematical language of word was is seen again with the absence of a glossary.

[tessaimable]

One of the textbooks used in my area of specialization Business is Principles of Business for CXC 4th edition by BMC ABIRAJ.

As stated by Ndubois, I find that it is not user friendly as there are no pictures or animations to encourage students to read the text. There are also not many examples in the text so that students can have an understanding of how to go ahead answering a question.

[canthony]

The Social Studies text, Social Studies for the Caribbean CXC Core Units and Options is used for form 5 students in preparation for the CXC examinations with various authors including B. A Rohehr and K. Seepersad . Some text features include Contents, diagrams, illustrations, Glossary, and pictures. The front is colorful and includes pictures and captions of the main topics contained in the book,wonderful I must say, however I was a bit disappointed with the pictures inside of the book. Although the book was written with form 5 students as the intended target I think that the idea of pictures was very good however they should be colorful instead black and white. I think that color will appeal to students despite their age. The text contained many important words which were bold and graphs explaining many concepts and showing statistics. Many activities and additional information were placed text boxes throughout the book.

[canthony]

The Social Studies text, Social Studies for the Caribbean CXC Core Units and Options is used for form 5 students in preparation for the CXC examinations with various authors including B. A Rohehr and K. Seepersad . Some text features include Contents, diagrams, illustrations, Glossary, and pictures. The front is colorful and includes pictures and captions of the main topics contained in the book,wonderful I must say, however I was a bit disappointed with the pictures inside of the book. Although the book was written with form 5 students as the intended target I think that the idea of pictures was very good however they should be colorful instead black and white. I think that color will appeal to students despite their age. The text contained many important words which were bold and graphs explaining many concepts and showing statistics. Many activities and additional information were placed text boxes throughout the book.