An analysis on mathematical concepts for proportional reasoning in the middle school mathematics curriculum

중학교 교육과정에서 비례적 사고가 필요한 수학 개념 분석

The concepts of ratio, rate, and proportion are used in everyday life and are also applied to many disciplines such as mathematics and science. Proportional reasoning is known as one of the pivotal ideas in school mathematics because it links elementary ideas to deeper concepts of mathematics and science. However, previous research has shown that it is difficult for students to recognize the proportionality in contextualized situations. The purpose of this study is to understand how the mathematical concept in the middle school mathematics curriculum is connected with ratio, rate, and proportion and to investigate the characteristics of proportional reasoning through analyzing the concept including ratio, rate, and proportion on the middle school mathematics curriculum. This study also examines mathematical concepts (direct proportion, slope, and similarity) presented in a middle school textbook by exploring diverse interpretations among ratio, rate, and proportion and by comparing findings from literature on proportional reasoning. Our textbook analysis indicated that mechanical formal were emphasized in problems connected with ratio, rate, and proportion. Also, there were limited contextualizations of problems and tasks in the textbook so that it might not be enough to develop students' proportional reasoning.