Down And Up: Textbook Research In Australia And Finland

The aim of the article is to compare textbook research conducted in Australia and Finland between 2000 and 2011. The article is based on information collected in a project initiated by the Norwegian government and realized by an international research group lead by Professor Susanne Knudsen at Vestfold University College in Norway. This research was published electronically at the Directorate for Education and Training (http://sok.udir.no/Sider/utdanningresults.aspx?k=L%C3%A6remidler). Research findings on textbooks and educational media were identified from four areas: (1) content, form and use; (2) implementation of basic skills; (3) educational media acting against drop out as well as (4) research analysing activities in classrooms also including the use of educational aids. As this fourth area encompassed very few findings it is left out here. Table 1 gives a quantitative overview of the research conducted in a sample of countries.