Website Description of the Textbook Design Working Group
Textbook Design
Working Group Members:
Mollie O’Neill, Brigus Group
Miroslav Loviric, McMaster University
Maritz Branker, Niagara University
Ed Sternin, Brock University
Ann Fleming, Parent
Doug Reeves, Parent
Therese Aycho, Parent
Objective
The aim of the Textbook Design Working Group is to:
1. Encourage research into how users interact with math textbooks
2. Develop a resource for publishers and writers on the design elements that have been identified
by users in preliminary explorations as important design elements that enhance or distract from
the learning experience with math textbook
To date, the Working Group has asked selected parents and teachers In Ontario about their experiences
with math text from primary grades to university. Members of the working group are also examining
selected textbooks against instructional design principles. The working group has also noted that there is
paucity of research on parents as stakeholders in curriculum development.
The Canadian Council on Learning’s Work and learning Knowledge Centers has noted that ways should
be found to enable parents to learn along with their children1. Textbooks that are stand-alone
instructional guides would facilitate such family learning. They would also interrupt the pattern noted by
some parents of elementary school children thinking their parents are stupid because they don’t
understand the textbooks.
We encourage participants in our working group sessions to bring data, expertise or experience to
contribute to the discussion. The following is the agenda set out by the Textbook Working Group
Proposed schedule
May 1, Friday 10 AM – 12:30:
Presentation of issues:
Mollie O’Neill: Analysis of parent and teacher comments about the pedagogical approach of selected
textbooks
1
Personal communication with Alex Stephens, Coordinator of the Work and Learning Knowledge Center, October
2008
Website Description of the Textbook Design Working Group
Maritz Branker: Pedagogical theories reflected in math textbooks
Discussion/group work
Miroslav Lovic: Presentation of selections from math textbooks for analysis by participants.
This session will be an opportunity for participants to share their knowledge and experience, with the
discussion output to be a checklist of key design elements of a math textbook that can be used as a
stand-alone resource.
May 1, Friday 15:30 – 17:00:
Discussion/group work
Critical evaluation of selected textbook material against


Problems encountered by parents and teachers with some textbooks
The key design elements developed in the morning session.
Participants who would like particular materials to be included in this afternoon session should bring
along copies. To ensure that your textbook is discussed, please contact one of the working group
facilitators (moneill@brigusgroup.com or lovric@mcmaster.ca) before April to ensure that your
selection is included.
May 2, Saturday 8:30 – 10:00 and 13:30 – 15:15
Discussion clusters with other working groups (to be determined)
May 3, Sunday 8:30 – 10:00
Summary of work
References
Berndorff, Dave, Show me a Picture: the use of graphics to accelerate learning, The Canadian Learning
Journal, Fall 2007 pp 28-29
Ross, Philip, The Expert Mind , Scientific American, July 2006 http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=theexpert-mind Studies of the mental processes of chess grandmasters have revealed clues to how people
become experts in other fields as well.
Publications of researchers at the Centre for Cognitive Technology, University of Southern California:
http://cogtech.usc.edu/recent_publications.php
Pushor, Debbie, Parent Engagement: Creating a Shared World, Invited Research Paper, Ontario
Education Research Symposium, January 18 – 20 , 2007, Toronto,
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/research/pushor.pdf
Website Description of the Textbook Design Working Group
Summary of Comments from parents and teachers:
In September 2008, the Field’s Institute for Research in Mathematical Science hosted a day of
presentations on the textbook experience gathered informally by members of the Mathematics
Education Forum. The findings of this session will be presented on Saturday morning of the CMEF
conference. The responses included comments such as the following:



Parents whose children were not having difficulty with math did not tend to read the math
textbooks
Teachers in one North Toronto High School felt the textbooks expressed few difficulties with
the math textbooks
Teachers and parents who were dissatisfied with the math textbooks reported
a. Instructions are not clear
b. There is too little actual instruction
c. There are too many graphics
d. The text is too reliant on language; literacy is a prerequisite to mastering the math texts
e. There should be more examples
f. Expectations are unclear or too broad
g. The material is inaccurate
h. Resource material is missing, so the reader can not rely solely on the text to solve the
problems
i. Teachers report that learning objectives are unclear and they have to impose their own
interpretation of what is expected
j. Children tell their parents that they don’t know what they are doing because the
teacher does it differently. One school principal reported that her children didn’t think
she was qualified to help them with elementary school math homework
k. Parents report crying and screaming as the outcome of math homework
Working Group Members
Name and affiliation
Related activities
Teachers (attendance subject
to funding

Mollie O'Neill, MBA, MA, CFP,
Partner Brigus Group
Parent
Title of Presentation
Teachers in junior and
senior schools
 Curriculum designer of
certification program in
the financial services
industry
 Presenter at Parents as
Stakeholders in
Mathematics Education,
Field’s Institute of
Mathematics Research,
2008
Report on parent and teacher
experiences with mathematics
textbooks
Website Description of the Textbook Design Working Group
Miroslav Lovric PhD (Ohio
State), Associate Professor in
Mathematics, McMaster
University
 Vector Calculus, Addison
Wesley, 2007
 “Mathematics Textbooks
And Their Potential Role In
Supporting
Misconceptions” coauthored with Ann
Kajander (forthcoming in
International Journal of
Mathematics Education in
Science and Technology”
 Teaching Mathematics –
course that received the
McMaster University
President’s Award for
course and resource design
Maritza Branker PhD
(University of Toronto),
Assistant Professor in
Mathematics, Niagara
University (2006-2008)
Pedagogical approaches in
 Teacher of teaching
mathematics to pre-service mathematics
teachers
Ann Fleming, LLB - School
Council President
Parent
Doug Reeves, PEng
Parent
Ed Sternin, PhD, Associate
Professor, Brock University
Parent
 Organizer of Family Math
Fun Night at King Edward
Public School, Toronto
 Presenter at Parents as
Stakeholders in
Mathematics Education,
Field’s Institute of
Mathematics Research,
2008
School Council member and
Parent
 2008 Distinguished
Teaching Award of the
Faculty of Math and
Sciences, Brock University
 Using the Web in
Undergraduate Physics
Implications of a lack of clarity
in textbooks on the learning
experience
Development of guidelines for
textbook design
Reflections on parents
experiences with math
education

Comparison of child
success with different
approaches to Math:
Ontario approved
textbooks, JUMP
program, KUMON
 Evaluation of elementary
math textbooks
(Grade 9 - university) –
Critique of textbooks as
instructional material
Website Description of the Textbook Design Working Group
Courses, an invited talk at
the annual congress of the
Canadian Association of
Physicists, Monday, June
17, 1996
 Using the Web to teach
Physics, a Niagara-Brock
Science Interface
Workshop, Wednesday,
May 22, 1996
 Presenter at Parents as
Stakeholders in
Mathematics Education,
Field’s Institute of
Mathematics Research,
2008
Therese Aycho
Parent
 Home-schooling several
children
Quality of textbooks available
for home schooling