This study, devoted to establishing a checklist for textbook selection, consisted of three dimensions, including formulating selection regulations, organizations and members, and selection procedures. The checklist was employed to investigate the operational status of textbook selection for Taiwanese elementary schools.
　　The textbook selection checklist established for this study consists of 20 items and 84 sub-items. Most sub-items were determined to be appropriate, reasonable, and highly important by participants. Although some sub-items related to members involving textbook selection, post-selection and post-adoption evaluation implementation, and textbook selection research were graded as less important by participants, it was determined that keeping the sub-items on the checklist would be helpful for promoting appropriate textbook selection.
　　Schools that participated in the textbook select investigation found the majority of items were acceptable, but an ideal situation is rarely realized. In addition, some problems, such as imperfect formulating of textbook selection regulations, divergences between selection regulations and actual operations, lack of improvement in the operational system over time, not noticing existing defects and irrationality, and poor implementation of better ideas or practices on textbook selection, were existed.

　　This study explored how 506 students not majoring in Japanese from 23 classes in 9 different universities rated Japanese textbooks using mind map. The findings showed significant differences with studies conducted earlier in Japan. Questions covered three categories: content (including effectiveness of visuals, ease of understanding, enjoyability), quality (including ease of use, practicality, price, usefulness) and other (including supplementary materials, authors). Additionally, the Taiwanese students had much fewer demands than Japanese students regarding the quality, effectiveness of visuals, ease of use, and supplementary materials. The demands of Taiwanese students differed among students from public/private universities and by gender.

　　Textbooks are regarded as valuable resources by teachers. The purpose of this study is to examine the mean percentage of scientific explanations, including causal explanation and predictive explanation, in science and technology textbooks in elementary schools in Taiwan. We analyzed three of the most widely used versions of elementary school science and technology textbooks (grades 3-6), covering physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and technology, for a total 16,616 sentences. The coding system places sentences into five categories: causal explanation, predictive explanation, fact and description, engagement, and irrelevant. Interrater reliability is .98. We found that half of the sentences belonged in the fact and description category. Only a quarter of the sentences were causal explanation or predictive explanation in nature. Textbooks for grades five and six had higher percentages of causal explanation sentences than grades three and four. All subjects had lower percentages of causal explanation. The percentages of predictive explanation sentences in physics and chemistry were higher than those in other subjects. More fact-like statements were adopted in biology.

　　This study is aimed at analyzing instructional design embedded in social studies textbooks based on student-centered approach. It mainly employed literature review and interviews with experts, editors, and teachers, to identify six characteristics of the student-centered approach. Using the six characteristics as criteria, content analysis was conducted on three series of social studies textbooks and student workbooks. Positive and non-positive cases of instructional design in textbooks were identified with student-centered approach and reported.
　　The main findings are as follows. 1) The coverage of the six characteristics of student-centered approach in the three series of textbooks was found to be quite low and no significantly difference among them. 2) The six characteristics of student-centered approach found that “meeting student learning levels”, “stimulating student interest in learning” and “connecting with student life experience” appeared more than “constructing learning contexts”, “employing multiple learning media” and “leading into self-directed learning”.