Structuring a Textbook with Pedagogical Elements

Now that we have considered common textbook structures, let’s look at the pedagogical elements that are often used in textbook design. These are elements designed to provide context, overview, motivation, review, and other functions that are useful for learning. They’re usually found within chapters or sections.

Let’s organize pedagogical elements into three categories: 1) openers, 2) closers, and 3) integrated pedagogical devices.¹

Organizing elements into these categories may help authors think about which ones will work best for what they’re trying to achieve. They should be used consistently throughout the text, so that there is consistent structure.

Pedagogical Elements: Openers

Openers are pedagogical elements that come before the main content. Their role is to lead the learner into the content and provide motivation or a preview. For example:

• learning objectives
• introduction
• focus questions

Pedagogical Elements: Closers

Closers are pedagogical elements that come after the main content. Their role is to help learners review or reinforce their learning. The goal of closers is to help students summarize, review, or practice what they’ve learned. Example include:

• review questions
• a section/chapter summary
• self assessment

Integrating Pedagogical Elements into Textbook Structure

Table 1 demonstrates how each chapter could be structured with openers and closers.

Openers and closers can also be incorporated at the section level, as demonstrated in Table 2.

Pedagogical Elements: Integrated Pedagogical Devices

Integrated pedagogical devices² are elements incorporated into the main content. For example, each chapter in a mathematics textbook might include:

• a “Biography” element that highlights the biography and accomplishments of a famous mathematician.
• a “Case Study” element that illustrates the concepts by describing a real-world application.
• vocabulary words in bold.
• illustration of geometric figures.
• graphs.

Often, these pedagogical elements are highlighted through design. For example, biographies may always appear inside a text box, accompanied by a photo. This visually distinguishes the pedagogical elements from the other content, and makes the element recognizable through consistent use in each chapter, section, etc.

Next, we’ll look at a more comprehensive overview of common pedagogical elements used throughout textbooks.

¹Schneider, D. K. (2008, September 3). Textbook writing tutorial. Retrieved March 04, 2018, from http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Textbook_writing_tutorialLinks to an external site.

²For simplicity, Integrated Pedagogical Devices and Interior Feature Strands – as defined by Schneider – have been combined into one broad category we’re calling Integrated Pedagogical Devices.