Readability Levels of High School and College Chemistry Textbooks

Presenter Information

Elizabeth A. Drommerhausen, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU North Ballroom

Start Date

25-4-2006 10:00 AM

End Date

25-4-2006 12:00 PM

Student's Major

Chemistry and Geology

Student's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Mentor's Name

Jeffrey R. Pribyl

Mentor's Department

Chemistry and Geology

Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Description

Textbooks are a large part of classrooms all over the world. In many science classes the textbook is frequently the determining factor for the content of a course. When choosing textbooks a factor that is often overlooked is the reading level, also known as the readability level. Chemistry textbooks typically are written at a reading level that is well above secondary students' or college students' abilities. Numerous high school and college chemistry textbook were analyzed for their readability level using the Fry and Raygor readability graphs. The results of this work confirm that the readability level of chemistry textbooks is often times well above the target audience.