Teachers’ and students’ views on physics textbooks

Abstract This contribution describes a literature search focused on getting feedback from students and teachers on science textbooks. A literature search was conducted to answer two questions: (1) How are teachers’ and students’ opinions on science textbooks collected in various international contexts? and (2) What specific criteria should a good science textbook meet? The search revealed the most commonly used methods for obtaining students’ and teachers’ opinions on textbooks, which were questionnaires and eye-tracking. Moreover, several textbook analysis tools were found. These methods and tools are described in more detail in this paper. Based on the results of the literature search, a new textbook evaluation tool for students and teachers will be developed. This tool will be used to get feedback on a new upper secondary school physics textbook, which is being developed at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague. The development process of the evaluation tool is outlined at the conclusion of this study.