Time series analysis: Moving averages as an approach to analysing textbooks

Jöran Petersson (1) , Judy Sayers (2) , Paul Andrews (1)

1 Stockholm University
2 University of Leeds

In this study we introduce time series analysis, specifically moving averages, as a novel strategy for analysing mathematics textbooks. Such analyses show how different topics or mathematical processes are emphasised over different time periods, whether at the level of the lesson, the week, the month or year. In this paper, by way of example, we show how one of the eight categories of foundational number sense (Andrews & Sayers, 2015), namely simple addition and subtraction, is distributed and sequenced across three English, year one, textbooks. The analyses are compared empirically with four other methods found in the literature to show how time series analysis using moving averages helps address the shortcomings of these different approaches.

Mots clés: comparative textbook analysis; foundational number sense; moving average; time series

Domaines: Mathématiques [math]; Education

Jöran Petersson, Judy Sayers, Paul Andrews. Time series analysis: Moving averages as an approach to analysing textbooks. Eleventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Utrecht University, Feb 2019, Utrecht, Netherlands. ⟨hal-02421793⟩