Das Unterrichtsthema „Dinge im Wasser“ in Österreichs Schulbüchern des Sachunterrichts: Empirische Ergebnisse

Textbooks are very complex subjects – with different graphical and textual representations and full of stumbling stones for pupils. This article focuses on Austrian textbooks in science education at the primary level, especially on the topic of “objects in water (floating)”. The analysis aims at showing how important this topic is in Austria and which linguistic challenges appear in current textbooks. 148 textbooks between 1900 and 2020 were reviewed, evaluated and compared with another science topic, i.e. “magnetism”. In addition, the text (N=9) are analyzed with regard to linguistic difficulties using the “Wiener Sachtextformel” and criteria according to Bamberger et al. (1989). Throughout the twentieth century, the topic “floating” was increasingly paid attention in Austrian textbooks and the analyzed texts correspond in principle with the primary level. However, a large variance was observed regarding word and sentence length and the frequency of using technical terms. Some exemplary examples illustrate the linguistic challenges.