Comparison of Visual Representations in Junior Secondary School Geography Textbooks on Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics

This research examines 39 visual representations from junior secondary school geography textbooks in China, the US, and the UK, themed “Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics”. This study employs content analysis and the revised Graphical Analysis Protocol (GAP) to evaluate graphics and their integration with text. Two indicators are considered while assessing graphics: Systematicity and Graphic form. The integration of graphics with text is evaluated based on five indicators: Contiguity, Indexical reference, Captions, Semantic relations, and Level of connection. The findings indicate that the geographic schematic map is the primary graphic form utilized in all textbooks. Graphics often exhibit a low degree of systematicity, and most visual representations depict representational semantic relations. PEP and MH demonstrate significant parallels regarding contiguity and indexical reference, with graphics physically associated with related text, and the text includes references to the graphics. Only OUP employs engaging captions.