The Extent of Using Real Problems and Emphasizing Modelling in the 10th Grade Math Textbook

Modelling is emphasized heavily in the national math curriculum, yet the extent to which this concept is covered in the math textbooks is, while of great importance, unknown. To discover the extent to which this issue, and real problems in general, are covered in the 10th grade math textbooks, the content of the textbook for the ‘theoretical’ (“nazari”) branch was analyzed. In doing so, the views of expert teachers and professors of teaching math were utilized leading to a five category typology of possible problems covered in these textbooks. Results show that only 26% of the problems and questions are related to real problems and only one percent of all deal with modelling. No ‘unwise’ problem or question was found. If such findings influence curriculum and the content of the textbooks, students’ interest and motivation would increase.