Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Augustus Snyder
Introduction
The primary purpose of this textbook assessment was not necessarily to meaningfully
consider its usefulness and relevancy in a high school biology classroom, though this was a
significant part of the assignment. Rather, the assessment endeavor was chiefly of personal interest
for developing a skill set which would result in successful textbook selection. Regarding the
schedule affected the availability of a textbook for review from my middle school practicum
placement. As a result, textbooks available for checkout from JMUs Educational Technology and
Media Center (ETMC) were surveyed instead. Furthermore, as a future biology teacher at the high
school level, assessing a textbook intended for the high school curriculum seemed most beneficial
to me. Lastly, this textbook is one of the most current editions that is supposedly designed to meet
the curriculum standards of Virginia. Since I am likely to teach in this state, I may in fact find
myself in a situation where I need to evaluate the suitability of this or similar texts for my
classroom.
It is anticipated that this text would be used for the tenth grade as that is when Virginia
students are required to take a course in biology. However, this text is advertised as being suitable
for grades 9-12 and could potentially be suitable for Advanced Placement (AP) biology as well. The
text covers nine units, centering on the following topics: introducing biology, cells, genetics,
evolution, ecology, classification and diversity, plants, animals, and human biology. Spanning
nearly 100 pages, it is quite lengthy and likely to be either extraneous for the scope of a tenth-grade
classroom, or very well illustrated. That said, extraneous detail may also increase the texts
usefulness as a supplement to good instruction for a variety of classrooms and lessons. The cost of
this text book new is $104.75 for the student edition, and $145.50 for the teacher edition. Of quick
ASSESSMENT OF HOLT McDOUGALS BIOLOGY 3
and interesting note in the texts breakdown of units and provision of supplemental materials for
students are:
Readability
Results
Using the Fry readability formula as described by Alvermann, Phelps, and Grillis (2010), the
readability of Biology was assessed by hand. In this method, two major assumptions are relied
upon: (a) longer sentences are more difficult to read than shorter ones, on average, and (b) longer
words are more likely to be harder to understand. Biology scored approximately within the ninth-
grade level with an average of 7.33 sentences and 156.33 syllables per 100-word passages. This is a
realistic level for the texts actual complexity; complex words like synthesis and figurative language
phrases like shedding new light are used, but sentences are relatively short (Figure 1).
Relevance
Controversies around readability formulas and Lexile scores abound. Critics argue that
reading level is not a precise metric, yet the excessive reliance on these formulas make matching
Figure 1. Sample readability passage chosen from Biology text, p. 632. Passages
were selected using a random number generator for page number; the first passage
with coherent sentence structure on the page was then selected for readability
analysis.
The assumptions of the test may also be flawed in that some short sentences can be difficult
to read and some word length or syllable count may be unrelated to word difficulty. Without
important connecting words, the flow and meaning of sentences can be disrupted, causing difficulty
in comprehension. Beers and Probst make the valid point that rigor is about relevance and not a
texts Lexile score (2016). In addition, readability is a quantitative measure that only considers a
very narrow aspect of a text, leaving other important factors such as qualitative and reader-task
considerations untouched (NGA & CCSSO, 2010). In other words, consideration of the texts
content, structure, and writing style, as well as its intended use and differences between students
like motivation or prior knowledgeare all important factors for good text assessment. When used
in conjunction with such a multifactorial consideration, however, readability scores can still be
Content1
The texts content is certainly complementary to its intended curriculum. It seeks to help
build foundational understanding of the core principles in biology and science as a whole while
offering enough new and exciting information to maintain interest while not detracting from core
concepts. In particular, this text addresses the essentials of the discipline like photosynthesis and
respiration, the central dogma (i.e. DNA transcription, translation & protein synthesis), cell
division, Mendelian genetics, and more in sufficient depth and breadththere doesnt appear to be
Biotechnology, and a few subsections on topics such as Marine ecosystems, and Animal
Cognition which go beyond the basics. Though complex, the concepts introduced are described
well and in relatable ways; for example, the arrangement of phospholipids in the cell membrane are
likened to the layers of a sandwich. For every subsection of the 34 chapters in Biologyaveraging
about five or six per chapterseveral key vocabulary words are introduced and defined in various
ways, including visuals and figures when appropriate (Figure 2). While this is extensive, the words
are very specific terms that students need to know for the discipline. The words are highlighted
with their first use, and the glossarys definitions are also worded slightly differently, allowing for
more assistance.
1
For all of the following qualitative considerations, the textbook evaluation instrument provided in chapter five of the
text by Alvermann et al. (2010) was used, supplemented occasionally by the text assessment questions offered by
Kesidou and Roseman specifically for science texts (2002).
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Format
Most of the graphics and visual aids in the text are quite helpful to making sense of the
content without sacrificing too much detail. In Figure 3, the texts visual for the processes of
meiosis 1 and 2 is shown as a great example of this, as many texts try unsuccessfully to over-
Biology gives the visual the space it needs with detailed descriptions of each phase. Visuals in
Biology are also generally attractive to the eye and not overly distracting, and many SEM images
are used instead of cartoons which help students form accurate understandings (Figure 4).
Figure 4. SEM images of red blood cells in various solutions with descriptions of
processes and key-term labels, p. 82.
In other cases, content is unnecessarily interrupted by pages that are dedicated entirely to
advertising the texts online supplements when a simple list of items offered as an appendix would
Figure 5. Images of distracting advertisements for online supplemental resources. These are
common, recurring images throughout the book but serve little purpose. A comprehensive list with
minimal visuals as an appendix would be better.
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Another strength in this area is that the chapters of the text are well organized, being broken
down into sections and subsections with good headings, marginal notes that connect to previous
content, and excellent chapter summaries. The text chapters lack introductions, but start out with
thought-provoking images and good essential questions, like Why are there so many variations
among people? and How can this plant digest a frog? These are useful for hooking readers and
not tedious to sort through. Furthermore, the glossary, index, and appendixes are useful in this text,
and the glossary even offers bilingual definitions (English and Spanish).
Utility
The chapter reviews and assessment questions at the end of the chapters are well designed
and incorporate many levels of Blooms taxonomy, but they are still unlikely to be utilized by most
students on their own. They are more useful for the inspiration of good questions and assessment
tasks for teachers; the standards-based assessment offered at the end of the chapters seem
More interesting are the Quick Labs which are present in every chapter, with activities
ranging from full-blown experiments designed by students to simple tasks of observation (Figure 7).
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These seem very useful for both teachers and students as many could be completed either at school
or home.
Figure 7. Example of a Quick Lab activity in which students design their own
experiment to test the effects of various beverages on yeast fermentation rates.
Perhaps even more exciting are the Biozine articles for each unit (Figure 8). It is easy to imagine
how these could be utilized to foster engaged reading about science in the classroom setting,
something which has been woefully absent in many high schools. These articles introduce
interesting findings from current biological research and technology, and serve to inform students
The fact that both the chapter labs and unit articles are expanded upon with the online
resources is quite beneficial, and I also see the supplemental animations being useful to augment
lessons. There is a teachers edition of this text, and although it is beyond the scope of this review, it
would likely be useful. Nowhere in the text did I encounter any suggestions of further reading.
Style
In all of the passages I read for this assignment, I never found any glaring issues with the
grammar or syntax; it is all coherent. The sentences also did not seem overly choppy, which I was
somewhat worried about when I saw the ninth-grade readability score. Important transition and
connecting words were not omitted excessively, and neither flow nor meaning suffered. At times,
the passages came across as somewhat lackluster, however, which is unfortunate with such
Strengths Weaknesses
Comprehensive content, good Expensive cost one class of 20
vocabulary assistance students with a text for each one
Excellent supplemental materials would be over $2,000
(i.e. Quick Labs and Biozine Distracting and unnecessary
articles) components at times e.g. Go
Well organized format, useful online pages
glossary No suggestions for further reading
Great images and figures encountered
Good questions and assessment Somewhat lackluster writing style
materials
Running head: ASSESSMENT OF HOLT McDOUGALS BIOLOGY 11
Conclusion
Overall, I would recommend this textbook for classroom use. Its supplemental materials
and excellent images alone stand out, and what issues the text does have can be mitigated with
proper teacher actions. For example, one might be able to mitigate the cost and make good use of
the textbook with the teacher edition and only a few student editions, having textbook work be in
groups where students share or work together. Furthermore, teachers should be very intentional
about selected passages for students so as to avoid unnecessary distractions and ensure content
relevancy. Though disappointing, the writing style can be mitigated through teacher actions and
efforts to bring energy and liveliness to the classroom; a great example is acting out process with
students. To amplify the strengths of this text, continued and differentiated vocabulary assistance is
a must. Teachers should also take advantage of the opportunities provided with the supplemental
materials for improving lectures and adding more engaging activities. One example which comes to
mind would be using the Biozine articles, like the one on stem cell research, to bring reading into
the science classroom and foster discussions on topics that are typically overlooked such as
bioethics. Such activities would also benefit immensely from a variety of before, during, and after
reading routines like those weve discussed in class. However, if this text is to be used, it should not
lesson planning.
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References
Alvermann, D. E., Phelps, S. F., & Gillis, V. R. (2010). Content area reading and literacy:
Succeeding in todays diverse classrooms (6th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Beers, G. K., & Probst, R. E. (2016). Reading nonfiction: notice & note stances, signposts, and
Kesidou, S., & Roseman, J. E. (2002). How Well Do Middle School Science Programs Measure
Up? Findings from Project 2061s Curriculum Review. Journal of Research in Science
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA) & Council of Chief State School
Officers (CCSSO). (2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts and
Nowicki, S. (2013). Biology. Orlando, Florida: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.