HYGIENIC ASSESMENT OF EDUCATIONAL TEXTS: METHODICAL APPROACHES AND EVALUATION OF DIFFICULTIES FOR CHILDREN OF SECONDARY TEXTBOOKS

Cover Page


Cite item

Full Text

Abstract

Background: The understandability and readability of the text are significant indicators of evaluation of textbooks. Objective: The aim of the study — rationale of improving the readability and understandability of textbooks. Methods: 60 modern textbooks for 5–11th classes on History, Physics, Biology and 23 textbooks of 1960–1980’s edition. Flesch index was used to assess the readability, Fogh index — to evaluate understandability. Results: The readability and understandability of texts in textbooks of 1960–1980’s and modern editions have no differences and show the same complexity of old and modern textbooks for students. The indicator of understandability of textbooks for primary classes corresponds to age norm and is 4.4±0.2 points. The indicator of readability for these books is less age norm and is 53.8±2.9 points, which increases the physiological cost of educational activities of children of primary school age. Children’s readability and understandability of school textbooks are a significant factor of intensity of training activities and can be objectively assessed by Flesch and Fogh indices, that it is appropriate for an objective hygienic assessment of the tension of the educational activities for children. Conclusion: The main direction of optimization of the tension of educational activity is to reduce the intellectual and emotional loads in children by increasing the easiness of reading textbooks due to their compliance with the age peculiarities of students.

 

 

About the authors

V. R. Kuchma

Scientific Centre of Children´s Health, Moscow, Russian Federation

Author for correspondence.
Email: vrkuchma@mail.ru

доктор медицинских наук, профессор, член-корреспондент РАН, заместитель директора Научного центра здоровья детей по научной работе, директор НИИ гигиены и охраны здоровья детей и подростков Научного центра здоровья детей
Адрес: 105064, Москва, Малый Казенный пер., д. 5, стр. 5, тел.: +7 (495) 917-48-31

Россия

E. A. Tkachuk

Irkutsk Institute of Teacher Training, Russian Federation

Email: zdorowie38@gmail.com

кандидат медицинских наук, доцент, заведующая кафедрой охраны здоровья, безопасности жизнедеятельности и физической культуры Иркутского института повышения квалификации работников образования Иркутской области
Адрес: 664007, Иркутск, ул. Красноказачья, д. 10а, тел.: +7 (3952) 20-99-07

Россия

References

  1. Baranov A.A., Kuchma V.R., Teksheva L.M. Reading, computer and health. Sotsial'naya pediatriya i organizatsiya zdravookhraneniya = Social Pediatrics and Health Care Organization. 2008; 7; 1: 21–25.
  2. Kuchma V.R., Teksheva L.M., Vyatleva O.A., Kurganskii A.M. Features of perception of information from the electronic reader (reader). Voprosy shkol'noi i universitetskoi meditsiny i zdorov'ya = Issues of University and School Medicine and Health. 2012; 1: 39–46.
  3. Mikk Ya.A. Methods of measuring the difficulty of the text. Voprosy psikhologii = Issues of psychology. 1975; 3: 147–155.
  4. Mikk Ya.A. Factors determining the time of reading the words associated text. Voprosy psikhologii = Issues of psychology. 1979; 3: 125–128.
  5. Mikk Ya.A. Optimizatsiya slozhnosti uchebnogo teksta [Optimization of Complexity of the Educational Text]. Moscow, Prosveshchenie, 1981. 119 p.
  6. Oborneva I.V. Automation of assessing the quality of perception of the text. Vestnik Moskovskogo gorodskogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Informatika i informatizatsiya obrazovaniya = Bulletin of Moscow City Pedagogical University. Series: Information and informatization of education. 2005; 5: 86–91.
  7. Teksheva L.M. Development and scientific substantiation of a universal indicator for the rapid assessment of readability. Gigiena i sanitariya = Hygiene and sanitation. 2007; 2: 52–54.
  8. Flesch R. Why Johnny still can't read A new look at the scandal of our schools Rudolf Flesch. Forew. by M.L. Burkhardt. New York etc.: Harper & Row. 1981. XXII. 191 p.
  9. Matskovskii M.S. Problemy chitabel'nosti pechatnogo materiala. V kn.: Smyslovoe vospriyatie rechevogo soobshcheniya v usloviyakh massovoi kommunikatsii [Problems readability of printed material. In book: semantic perception of verbal communication in the context of mass communication]. Moscow, Nauka, 1976. P. 126–142.
  10. Metodika issledovaniya vospriyatiya informatsii. V kn.: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov. Pod red. B.M. Firsova [Methods of study of perception. In the book .: Collection of scientific works. Ed. BM Firsov]. Leningrad, NII OOV APN SSSR, 1972. 152 p.
  11. Okladnikova S.V. Analysis of existing methods for assessing the quality of test materials. Prikaspiiskii zhurnal: upravlenie i vysokie tekhnologii = Caspian journal: management and high technology. 2008; 1 (1): 77–82.
  12. Okladnikova S.V. Methodology for calculating baseline readability test materials based on expert judgment. Prikaspiiskii zhurnal: upravlenie i vysokie tekhnologii = Caspian journal: management and high technology. 2009; 3: 85–89.
  13. Okladnikova S.V. Formation of the system of weighting coefficients integral criterion evaluating the actual wording of the complexity of the test tasks. Vestnik komp'yuternykh i informatsionnykh tekhnologii = Bulletin of Computer and Information Technology. 2009; 6: 46–50.
  14. Tkachuk E.A., Filippov E.S., Yamshchikova O.A. Evaluation of information-psychological safety of school textbooks using Flesch index and index Fogh. Sibirskii meditsinskii zhurnal = Siberian Medical Journal. 2012; 109 (2): 98–100.
  15. Okladnikova S.V. Integrated assessment modeling readability test materials. Prikaspiiskii zhurnal: upravlenie i vysokie tekhnologii = Caspian journal: management and high technology. 2010; 3: 63–71.
  16. Flesh R. The art of readable writing. New York: Harper & Row. 1974. 187 p.
  17. Galyashina E.I. Metodologicheskie osnovy sudebnogo rechevedeniya. Avtoref. dis. … dokt. filol. nauk [Methodological Bases of Court Declamation. Author’s abstract]. Moscow, 2003. 48 p.
  18. Istratova O.N. Psikhodiagnostika: kollektsiya luchshikh testov: psikhologicheskii praktikum. 7-e izd. [Psychodiagnostics: Collection of the Best Tests: Psychological Workshop. 7th edition]. Rostov-on-Don, Feniks, 2010. 375 p.
  19. Flesch R. A new readability yardstick. J. Appl. Psychol. 1948; 32: 221–233.
  20. McLaughlin G.H. SMOG grading-a new readability formula. J. Reading. 1969; 22: 639–646.
  21. Chall J.S., Bissex J.L., Conard S.S., Sharples S.H. Qualitative assessment of text difficulty: A practical guide for teachers and writers. Cambridge MA: Brookline Books. 1996. 221 p.
  22. Gunning R. The Technique of Clear Writing. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1952 P. 36–37.
  23. Fitzsimmons P., Michael B., Hulley J., Scott G. A readability assessment of online Parkinson's disease information. J. R. Coll. Physicians Edinb. 2010; 40 (4): 292–296. doi: 10.4997/JRCPE.2010.401.PMID: 21132132.
  24. Kutuzov A.B. Methods of determining the complexity of the text within the translation analysis. Vestnik Nizhegorodskogo gosudarstvennogo lingvisticheskogo universiteta im. N.A. Dobrolyubova = Bulletin of N.A. Dobrolyubov Nizhny Novgorod State Linguistic University. 2009; 4: 30–36.
  25. Belyanin V.P. Psikholingvistika: Uchebnik. 2-e izd. [Psycholinguistics: Textbook. 2nd edition]. Moscow, Flinta: Moskovskii psikhologo-sotsial'nyi institute, 2004. 232 p.
  26. Grebnyak N.P., Agarkova L.D. Sanitary protection characteristics kindergartens. Gigiena i sanitariya = Hygiene and sanitation. 2000; 6: 46–48.
  27. Mikk Ya.A. Ponyatnost' uchebnogo teksta i svyazi v nem. V kn.: Sovetskaya pedagogika i shkola. Vyp. 2 [Clarity of Educational Text and Links in it. In book: Soviet Pedagogy and School. Vol. 2]. Tartu, 1970. P. 5–72.
  28. Sokhor A.M. Logicheskaya struktura uchebnogo materiala [Logical Structure of Educational Material]. Moscow, Pedagogika, 1974. 192 p.
  29. Valeeva E.R., Stepanova N.V. Adaptatsiya shkol'nikov k uchebnoi nagruzke. Gigienicheskaya nauka i praktika na rubezhe XXI veka. V kn.: Materialy IX Vserossiiskogo s"ezda gigienistov i sanitarnykh vrachei. T. 2 [Adaptation of Students to Teaching Load. Hygienic Science and Practice at the Turn of the XXI Century. In book: Proceedings of IX All-Russian Congress of Hygienists and Health Officers. Volume 2]. Moscow, 2001. P. 291–292.
  30. Valeeva E.R., Khamitova R.Ya. Hygienic evaluation of textbooks of educational institutions of various types. Gigiena i sanitariya = Hygiene and sanitation. 2006; 3: 64–67.

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download

Copyright (c) 2015 "Paediatrician" Publishers LLC



This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies