| So elaborate color illustrations are probably worse than more
| sparse black and white figures. Pages with extra things that
| distract from the text
| (sidebars...) probably provide too many distracting elements.
| Concept presentation needs to be reversed to conform to the
| learning cycle. Problem solving needs to stress the use of
| concept based problem solving. So students need to solve
| kinematic problems primarily with graphs and maps before
| being introduced to the equations. Bar charts need to be
| stressed in energy, and their usage should be part of problem
| solving and not just decorative illustrations. Textbook
| authors need to have looked at and understood both cognitive
| research and science education research
It strikes me that the above comments mesh well with common sense. I've been railing for well over a decade or two about how distracting textbooks were becoming; to the point where in many books its almost impossible to tell where the main narrative lies.