A Comparative Study of the Probability and Statistics Curricula in the High School Mathematics Textbooks of Vietnam and Germany

An international comparative study of mathematics textbooks is essential in identifying trends in international mathematics education, developing textbooks and improving the quality of teaching and learning in mathematics. This study analyses and compares the contents of the probability and statistics curricula in the high school textbooks of Vietnam and Germany. It highlights the similarities and differences in the contents and the way they are presented, consolidated and deepened in textbooks of the two countries. The probability and statistics curricula in Vietnamese textbooks are much less than that of German textbooks. The Vietnamese textbooks focus on the mathematical content whereas the German textbooks focus on applications of the content in real life. Vietnamese textbooks tend to force students to accept probability and statistics knowledge while German textbooks encourage students to explore knowledge. Because of this, contexts relating to the contents in German textbooks are more detailed and more natural. German textbooks mainly use an inductive approach to present the contents whereas Vietnamese textbooks often use a deductive approach. In addition, German textbooks unlike those of Vietnam, always take advantage of realistic situations in exploring the contents, encourage co-operative learning and promote statistical reasoning by implementing several project works and provide an opportunity for practical experience and experiment by using the simulations of probability and statistics situations. The comparison shows the strengths of probability and statistics contents in German textbooks that Vietnamese textbooks can learn for the development of textbooks in future.