Analysis of Elementary School Mathematics Textbooks for the Development of Mathematics Curriculum to Meet the Needs of the Knowledge-Driven Society

지식기반사회에서의 초등수학과 교육과정 개발을 위한 기초연구로서의 제 7차 초등 수학 교과서 분석

The purposes of this study were to analyze elementary school mathematics textbooks developed in accordance with the 7th national amended curriculum and to find implications for the development of a new revised curriculum to meet the needs of the knowledge-based society. Elementary school mathematics textbooks and accompanying practice books were analyzed. Teacher's manuals were also studied to examine the intentions of the textbook developers. The two major questions were sought. First, to what degree do elementary school mathematics textbooks and practice books match with the intentions of the national curriculum\ulcorner Second, how do elementary school mathematics textbooks and practice books facilitate student's learning for understanding mathematics\ulcorner The findings were as follows. First textbooks, practice books, and teacher's manuals appeared not to reflect the intentions of the 7th amended curriculum to the full extent. Second, characteristics and roles of textbooks, practice books, and teacher's manuals were not clearly defined and therefore, they were not very feasible for teaming for understanding mathematics. The recommendations for a new revised curriculum were suggested. First, regarding the contents presented in the textbooks, the idea of structure of subject matter need to be considered in order to help students to understand connections of concepts and relationships between concepts and functions in mathematics. Second, more ill defined problems should be presented to develop problem solving ability in real life contexts in students. Third, contents for relearning and enrichment need to be reorganized to reflect students' real ability. Fourth, uses of the concrete and the manipulative need to be more realistically suggested. Fifth, more prototypes of performance assessment tasks, scoring rubrics, and portfolios need to be presented in a more teacher-friendly manner. Sixth, characteristics and roles of textbooks and practice books need to be more discernible.