Characteristics of Intended Problem Solving Lessons in Mongolian Primary Science: From an Analysis of Trends in Textbook Questions

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to analyze the tendency of questions in Mongolian primary school science textbooks and to derive an intended “problem-solving” lesson from it. To achieve this objective, the results of this analysis were compared with the results of a study of Japanese primary school textbooks by Nakayama and Saruta (2015). As a result, it became clear from the tendency of the types of questions in the Mongolian textbooks that they depend on each content area (Energy, Particle, Life and Earth). The intended lesson for each area is as follows. The Energy and the Particle areas are characterized by (1) a lesson that asks questions requiring a “Yes/No” answer that includes a hypothesis in the question text. The Life area is characterized by (2) a lesson that asks questions with a viewpoint using “How” and “What kind of”, and (3) a lesson using “What”, requiring specific names in the answer. The Earth area is characterized by (4) a lesson using various types of questions and (5) a lesson using the question word “Why” to ask “inference” before the problem solving activities, and “reasoning” after the problem solving activities.