Representation of the views of nature and human-nature relationships in chemistry textbooks: a comparative analysis

Science textbooks play a crucial role in shaping students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours towards nature, impacting the effectiveness of environmental education. This study provides a comparative analysis concerning the views of nature and the human-nature relationships represented in Chinese and U.S. chemistry textbooks (grades 10–12), aiming to inform environmental education in the field of science education. Content analysis was applied to examine and compare the representation patterns of the views of nature with four sub-dimensions (i.e. metaphors of nature, environmental emotions, types of nature, values of nature) and of the human-nature relationships. A five-volume Chinese textbook and one U.S. textbook were targeted. Proportionality calculation, Chi-squared tests along with Cramer's V were conducted to identify similarities and differences in their representation patterns. Comparative analysis results demonstrated more commonalities than divergences in the representation patterns of Chinese and U.S. chemistry textbooks. Specifically, there were no statistically significant differences in the representation patterns of metaphors of nature, environmental emotions, types of nature, and humans-nature relationships. However, a significant difference was found in the representation patterns of values of nature. The major findings of this study are discussed and several implications for future research and practice are provided.