Thursday, October 23, 2008

Book Review


Title : Mathematics Form 2, Volume 1
Writers : Cheang Chooi Yoong
Khaw Phoay Eng
Yong Kien Cheng
Editors : Yong Kien Cheng
Norhayati bt Isa
Rashidan bt Kadir
Mohd Khairulriza b Yusop
Publisher : Arus Intelek Sdn. Bhd. (2003)

Organization:

Generally, we know that all the books will provide us with the table of contents. This textbook also does not exclude from it. It provides us with a useful table of contents and index. In fact, the table of contents also shows a logical arrangement and development of the subject. Besides that, it also has some references and bibliographies for student’s reference. However, it still insufficient for students to find the best solution for any question which is confused them. Supposed be, it should give some links which related with this field such as websites to ensure that students will be able to access immediately to get the solution for those confused questions or statements.
Fortunately, all the chapters provide introductions and summaries that are clear and comprehensive for students’ usage. However, glossary provided is insufficient. It is supposed to have a little bit more to ensure that the students will really familiar with and know the technical terms of mathematics. It is lucky to have all the pages are numbered. Thus, it reduces the tendency of having confusion among the students.

Contents:

Since at the national standard we will have PMR and SPM, therefore, the contents of this book meet local and national standard. This is because, the syllabus used are standardized. Instead of it, language used is appropriate for the intended age group. It does not have any grammatical error. But then, the sentences used sometimes make students feel confused. However, it still can be understood. Since it is used for form 2 students, therefore, the text book contains age appropriate reading level.
In addition, the greatest part of this book is that it contains of end-of-lesson questions and quizzes. In fact, it has some challenging questions to be tested by the students. Moreover, they are linked to the other subject areas. Thus, the activities engage students in active learning processes. Instead of appealing to a wide range of abilities and interest, the lessons also encourage higher level of thinking. It shows when the questions touch the daily life applications. By that, it will attract students’ interest indirectly.


Physical aspects:

Generally, we know that most of parents were complaining that the textbook which is provided before is too thick and heavy. Based on those complains, now, Ministry of Education come out with the new version of textbook. It is divided into two volumes which the first volume is used for the first term of school period and the second volume will use in the next term. Therefore, the size and weight of the textbook provided are appropriate for the student who will use it. Besides that, the font and style use are appropriate for that level of age.
Since it is Ministry of Education’s product, the font and style used are formal. Therefore, it is considered as appropriate for those students who are going to use it. Binding for this book is quite ok. In addition, it uses a high quality papers. Thus, the students are not easy to tear it away. Even though the cover is not that hard, it is durable and could last for several years.
Besides that, well-arranged information in this textbook also helps to attract students to use it. In other words, the information given is uncluttered and balanced. In fact, all the illustrations, tables, figures, graphs, charts, etc provided are appropriate representations of age, ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic level and physical or mental ability. Instead of those, they are also interesting due to the color and the way how it is presented.

No comments:

Post a Comment