Secondary school students' use and perceptions of textbooks in mathematics learning: A large-scale investigation in China

Students' use of textbooks is the key link of students engaged and learned curriculum and has received much attention recently. However, existing studies were mainly case studies or small-scale investigations and few addressed the context of China. Hence, this study provided a general overview of mathematics textbook use by Chinese secondary students through a large-scale investigation. Using a mixed-method approach, we collected the quantitative data from 2,145 students in eight provinces through a questionnaire survey and the qualitative data from 20 students and 8 teachers by the interviews. The results revealed that (1) Chinese students relied heavily on mathematics textbooks and pointedly used a portion of components in textbooks, mainly kernels, examples, and exercises; (2) Chinese students used mathematics textbooks for various but typical reasons, particularly to understand basic knowledge and skills, and showed self-regulation and teacher-mediation behind their use; and (3) Chinese students had a positive view about textbook use in mathematics learning, especially in developing mathematical knowledge, skills, and abilities. Furthermore, there were significant differences in mathematics textbook use among different students in terms of school regions, grade levels, and teachers' demographic variables. Finally, explanations and implications of the results were discussed.