Survey has been done in towns and cities in various regions of Poland.

1. Skills developed during work with a textbook • STUDENTS' OPINIONS ABOUT CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS • PRELIMINARY REPORT FROM POLAND • KRZECZKOWSKA Małgorzata1, MACIEJOWSKA Iwona1 and CHMIELOWSKI Paweł2 • Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland • (2)Faculty of Social Science, Institute of Sociology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland BACKGROUND: As a result of the education system restructuring, taking place in 1999 in Poland, the market offer of new textbooks is very rich. Currently (2009), the teacher of the lower secondary school may select from 23 textbooks, while the teacher of the upper secondary school (general education) may choose from as many as 27 textbooks, a large contrast compared to the previous years where only 2-3 publications were available. One of the method of textbook optimizing involves familiarization with the feedback fromstudents and teachers regarding the publishers acting on the market. CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS: Survey has been done in towns and cities in various regions of Poland. Collecting information has been planned in two steps: information from teachers (2007) [1] and information from students (2008 and 2009)[7]. A PURPOSE: - to get opinions formed by students with regard to school textbooks – those used at present during chemistry lessons. CHARACTERISTIC OF SURVEY: The survey contained 4 open questions requiring in-depth reflection on the subject, and sometimes spontaneousanswer based on first impression; 5 semi-open questions and 9 closed questions. It contained ~20 % quantitativequestions, and ~80 % qualitativequestions. STUDENTS, OPINION ABOUT CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS: Result: 88% of students (boys and girls) who filled in the questionnaire used 2 most popular textbooks out of27. Conclusion: Therefore, there is no significant diversity in the presently used chemistry textbooks ,and thus there is no such thing as chaos in the publishing market, as it has been suggested in certain publications, that would result from education reform in Poland. Results: When buying didactic materials students first of all take into considerationCDs,colourful appendix, additional information, revision/exam questions and illustrations (photographs, drawings) the most (from 15 possible choices). Conclusion: The suggestion for teachers is to emphasizeillustrations as a source of additional knowledge, especially to the male part of a group (according to a study by M. Nodzyńska [8], for teachers and students illustrations have mostly a decorative function). Comparison of students’ opinions about two most popular textbooks proves thata currently used textbook: Results: Students do pay any attention to literature, biography and links to websites enclosed in the handbook (from 15 possible choices). Conclusion: If the teacher would like the students to read other books listed in the handbook, to refer to links to websites or the index, he or she should draw students’ attention to the said elements as young learners usually do not consider them important. What style of text makes it easier for you to study from a textbook? Answers suggest that the books used in schools (at least in students’ opinion) are composed in a very traditional way, as if they were still themain source of information. The results of studies suggest that chemistry books in Polish schools do not develop such skills provided by the syllabus as: looking for, arranging and using information from various sources. A -impersonal expression B - expression addressed to readers (on second person plural) C - expression addressed directly (on second person singular) D –author identifying himself/herself with the reader (on first person plural). Answers to one of the questions prove that students are willing to work with a specific handbook because, in their opinion, it enables self-study (=0,05; r = 0,412), develops their interests ( = 0,05; r = 0,489) and good habits (=0,05; r = 0,468). Results: Students with various levels of learning achievements and various sex prefer different styles of addressing readers. 1 – almost always understand 2 – often understand 3- sometimes I understand, sometimes I don,t understand 4 – often I don't understand 5 – almost always I don't understand A –industry and production B – economy and general economics C - practical application of chemistryin everyday life D – hygiene and health prevention E – medicine and pharmacy F –environment protection G - other Regardless of their sex students suggest, that what they are mainly looking for in a handbook are interesting pieces of information about the application of chemistry in everyday life, medicine and pharmacy. Results: School books, often as the only source of information, contain descriptions of experiments required in the curriculum. Only appr. 44,7% of students think that those descriptions are very detailed (e), and 48,2% - that they are enough to conduct experiments independently (h). Conclusion: Teachers should prepare additional instructions for experiments to be done independently by students at school or add detailed instruction in words. • Preliminary findings suggested a need of future research. Plans include, among others: • Comparison of results which are characteristic for different level of education / different groups of users (students and teachers), • Comparison of students opinions regarding skills developed by work with textbook with their real achievements. • Recommendations for teachers and publishers will be prepared. Results: According to students, opinions all pictures are ‘understandable’(1) or ‘often understandable’(2)for at least 2/3 students. Students find it the most difficult to understand visualization of the formation of chemical bonds and electrolytic dissociation. Conclusion: Students’ opinions that have been gathered must be correlated with research results, e.g. to what extent students understand pictures concerning an ionic bond.