Investigation of Structural Features of Examples Which Textbook Located and Lecturers’ Preferred in Calculus

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the structural features of examples which textbook located and lecturers’ choosed in teaching of engineering calculus. The study had interpretivist paradigm in qualitative research approach and the data collection process was conducted through content analysis method. The course content of calculus, which are lectured by different instructors in engineering departments, are followed during a semester within the context of the study. Examples in the textbooks and the lecture notes are analyzed with document analysis method based on their structural features of representation, language and knowledge. Besides, data are presented with descriptive statistics method. Semi-structured interviews are conducted to detect any possible components affecting lecturers’ exemplification behavior, and the records are interpreted by using the inferential content analysis. The findings show that the examples of both textbooks and lecture notes have a formal language and procedural knowledge. It is also found that lecturers, unlike the content of textbooks, use more algebric representations than graphical ones. The results of the study indicate that the structural features of examples which were choosed by lecturers and which were located in textbook are similar. Besides epistemological belief, the components of the teaching environment and the type of used sources have a significant role affecting the choices of the lecturers. It has been made some suggestions for authors and researchers, which may contribute to the teaching practice for further studies.