The Chinese writing system has traditionally organized the typographic text vertically, with one square-shaped character placed on top of another. With the influence of globalization, an increasing number of reading materials have been presented in the Western horizontal format, including school textbooks for children in Taiwan. This study looked…

Describes five experiments that explored preferences for pages of instructional text that varied in terms of their layout, their wording, or both of these features. (HOD)

Discusses three roles of textbook illustrations--to arrest the reader's attention and arouse interest, to provide explanation and clarification of complex verbal descriptions, and to aid retention of the information presented in the text. It is recommended that illustrations be designed with their specific role(s) in mind. (EAO)

A lesson from a physics textbook for secondary students was redesigned in three versions and given to 600 students. Results of achievement measures suggested that one of the experimental versions (which stressed the visual aspects of the printed page) was superior to the standard and the other experimental versions. (GT)