Analysis of the Characters' Role Presenting Elementary School Science Textbook: Targeting the 2009 Revised Science 4th-Grade Textbook

This study aims to find out the meaning of characters used in science textbooks by analyzing the roles of the characters on the 2009 revised science textbooks and the extracted sentences and see if there are indications referable to compiling future science textbooks by finding out where the characters are efficiently used and where supplement is needed. Target textbooks among those developed for the 2009 revised elementary school science textbooks are the first and second semester of the 4th-grade. Methods used include analysis on the roles of character-containing questions using character role analysis whose illustration analysis frame is more supplemented/adjusted than those used in the foregoing studies, analysis on character-containing questions using the existing analysis frame, analysis/survey on good cases and cases needing supplement through consultation with a science education expert, two teachers, etc. The result shows that among types of character roles, motivation and material provision are more used than experiment guide, experiment, and observation results. Result of analyzing in-textbook characters by field shows that life sphere is more used than free exploration, energy, material, and earth. Result of analyzing question types shows the order of expanding, anticipatory, transferable and personal questions and there were no reminiscent and evaluative questions. Based on the result of this study, indications on how to use in-science textbook characters more efficiently and developmentally are needed.