• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.107-134
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two teaching methods of word problems, one based on mathematical modeling learning(ML) and the other on traditional learning(TL). Additionally, the influence of mathematical modeling learning in word problem solving behavior, application ability of real world experiences in word problem solving and the beliefs of word problem solving will be examined. The results of this study were as follows: First, as to word problem solving behavior, there was a significant difference between the two groups. This mean that the ML was effective for word problem solving behavior. Second, all of the students in the ML group and the TL group had a strong tendency to exclude real world knowledge and sense-making when solving word problems during the pre-test. but A significant difference appeared between the two groups during post-test. classroom culture improvement efforts. Third, mathematical modeling learning(ML) was effective for improvement of traditional beliefs about word problems. Fourth, mathematical modeling learning(ML) exerted more influence on mathematically strong and average students and a positive effect to mathematically weak students. High and average-level students tended to benefit from mathematical modeling learning(ML) more than their low-level peers. This difference was caused by less involvement from low-level students in group assignments and whole-class discussions. While using the mathematical modeling learning method, elementary students were able to build various models about problem situations, justify, and elaborate models by discussions and comparisons from each other. This proves that elementary students could participate in mathematical modeling activities via word problems, it results form the use of more authentic tasks, small group activities and whole-class discussions, exclusion of teacher's direct intervention, and classroom culture improvement efforts. The conclusions drawn from the results obtained in this study are as follows: First, mathematical modeling learning(ML) can become an effective method, guiding word problem solving behavior from the direct translation approach(DTA) based on numbers and key words without understanding about problem situations to the meaningful based approach(MBA) building rich models for problem situations. Second, mathematical modeling learning(ML) will contribute attitudes considering real world situations in solving word problems. Mathematical modeling activities for word problems can help elementary students to understand relations between word problems and the real world. It will be also help them to develop the ability to look at the real world mathematically. Third, mathematical modeling learning(ML) will contribute to the development of positive beliefs for mathematics and word problem solving. Word problem teaching focused on just mathematical operations can't develop proper beliefs for mathematics and word problem solving. Mathematical modeling learning(ML) for word problems provide elementary students the opportunity to understand the real world mathematically, and it increases students' modeling abilities. Futhermore, it is a very useful method of reforming the current problems of word problem teaching and learning. Therefore, word problems in school mathematics should be replaced by more authentic ones and modeling activities should be introduced early in elementary school eduction, which would help change the perceptions about word problem teaching.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.181-199
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• 2011

The area formula for a plane figure represents the relations between the area and the lengths which determine the area of the figure. Students are supposed to understand the relations in it as well as to be able to find the area of a figure using the formula. This study investigates how 5th grade students understand the formulas for the area of triangle, rectangle and parallelogram, focusing on their understanding of functional relations in the formulas. The results show that students have insufficient understanding of the relations in the area formula, especially in the formula for the area of a triangle. Solving the problems assigned to them, students developed three types of strategies: Substituting numbers in the area formula, drawing and transforming figures, reasoning based on the relations between the variables in the formula. Substituting numbers in the formula and drawing and transforming figures were the preferred strategies of students. Only a few students tried to solve the problems by reasoning based on the relations between the variables in the formula. Only a few students were able to aware of the proportional relations between the area and the base, or the area and the height and no one was aware of the inverse relation between the base and the height.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.359-374
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• 2020

This study is a complex type consisting of survey study and self-study. The former investigated elementary teachers' epistemological beliefs on convergence knowledge and teaching. As a representative of the result of survey study I, as a teacher as well as a researcher, was the participant of the self-study, which investigated my epistemological belief on convergence knowledge and teaching and my execution of convergent science teaching based on family resemblance of mathematics, science, and physical education. A set of open-ended written questionnaires was administered to 28 elementary teachers. Participating teachers considered convergent teaching as discipline-using or multi-disciplinary teaching. They also have epistemological beliefs in which they conceived convergence knowledge as aggregation of diverse disciplinary knowledge and students could get it through their own problem solving processes. As a teacher and researcher I have similar epistemological belief as the other teachers. During the self-study, I tried to apply convergence knowledge system based on the family resemblance analysis among math, science, and PE to my teaching. Inter-disciplinary approach to convergence teaching was not easy for me to conduct. Mathematical units, ratio and rate were linked to science concept of velocity so that it was effective to converge two disciplines. Moreover PE offered specific context where the concepts of math and science were connected convergently so that PE facilitated inter-disciplinary convergent teaching. The gaps between my epistemological belief and inter-disciplinary convergence knowledge based on family resemblance and the cases of how to bridge the gap by my experience were discussed.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.85-108
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• 2009

The purposes of the study were to develop instructional materials based on Freudenthal's guided reinvention principle for teaching proofs and to investigate how the teaching method based on guided reinvention principle affects on 8th grade students' ability to write proofs and learning attitude toward proofs. Teaching based on guided reinvention principle placed emphasis on providing students opportunities to make a mathematical statement and prove the statement by themselves throughout various activities such as exploring, conjecturing, and testing the conjectures. The study found that students who studied proving with instructional materials developed by guided reinvention principle showed statistically higher mean scores on the posttest than students who studied by a traditional teaching method depending onteacher's explanation. Especially, on the posttest item which requested to prove a whole statement without presenting a picture corresponding to the statement, a big difference among students' responses was found. Many more students in the traditional group did not provide any response on the item. According to the results of the questionnaire regarding students' learning attitudes, the group who studied proving by guided reinvention principle indicated relatively more positive attitudes toward learning proofs than the counterparts.

• School Mathematics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.803-825
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• 2014

From the early stages of learning algebra, literal symbols are used to represent algebraic objects such as variables and parameters. The concept of parameters contains both indeterminacy and fixity resulting in confusion and errors in understanding. The purpose of this research is to compare the beginners of algebra and pre-service teachers who completed secondary mathematics education in terms of understanding this paradoxical nature of parameters. We recruited 35 middle school students in eight grade and 73 pre-service teachers enrolled in a undergraduate course at one university. Using them we conducted a survey on the perception of the nature of parameters asking if one considers parameters suggested in a problem as variables or constants. We analyzed the collected data using the mixed method of qualitative and quantitative approaches. From the analysis results, we identified several difficulties in understanding of parameters from both groups. Especially, our statistical analysis revealed that the proportions of subjects with limited understanding of the concept of parameters do not differ much in two groups. This suggests that learning algebra in secondary mathematics education does not improve the understanding of the nature of parameters significantly.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.247-256
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• 2021

Visual representation has been a useful tool in mathematical problem solving because it vividly express and structure the variables in the problem. But its effects may vary according to the types of problems. So, this study analyzes the survey results on the 5^th graders' visual representations using questionnaire consisting of the routine problems and the non-routine problems. The results are follows: The rate of correct answers in routine problems was higher than that of the non-routine problems. Even though the subjects were asked to solve the problem using visual representations, the ratio of solving the problem using the numerical expression was high in the routine problems. On the other hand, the rate of solving the problem using visual representation was high in the non-routine problems. The number of respondents who used visual representation in the non-routine problems was twice as many as that of the routine problems. But, among the subjects who used visual representation in the non-routine problems, the proportion of incorrect answers was also high, which resulted in using visual pictures. So, it is necessary to provide an experience that can use various types of the visual representations for problem solving and pay attention to the process of converting problems into visual representations.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.495-517
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• 2018

This paper is based on the effects of Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding theory of social constructivist, Russian psychologist Vygotsky. He insisted that a social interaction play a fundamental role in the development of cognition. This study is to examine the efficient of the scaffolding types in Math class. The ZPD is the distance between a student's ability to perform a task under adult guidances or with peer collaboration and the student's ability solving the problem independently. To conduct the research was grouped into an experimental first grader five students in H high school in Y county. After class, students were questioned through Semi-structured interviews. The results of this study are below. First, Students were satisfied with the class mixed micro-scaffolding types and Macro-scaffolding types and improved their math thinking ability and the ways of solving problems. Second, The results of the class showed that students' ability to perform a task was transferred to the higher level through the help of a teacher or peers. Students could have more time to listen to peers' opinions and to say their own thoughts freely than they were under the lecture method instruction. Third, Students were interested in math through the experimental class. That's because the appropriate help of the scaffolding type, a cooperate study, relative with real life, using an engineering tools. They made a change of perception.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1030-1041
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• 2011

We investigated the understanding of pre-service science teacher about the chemistry concept of middle school curriculum using some items in National Assessment of Educational Achievement and analyzed the result according to background variables of pre-service science teacher. The result was that there were some pre-service science teachers who select incorrect answer at all items, pre-service science teachers don't fully understand the concept needed to solve item. And the percentage of correct answer at some items was low regardless of selection of chemistry as an elective subject at CSAT(College Scholastic Ability Test). We found some facts through the depth interviews to find the cause of the result. First, the misconception acquired in middle school days is tend not to change until college student. Second, the formation of misconception is affected by the study habit with which solve problem by simple calculation and memory without essential understanding. Third, the study habit with which solve problem by simple calculation and memory without essential understanding could not replace misconceptions acquired in middle school days with scientific concept regardless of selection of chemistry as an elective subject at CSAT.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.63-76
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• 2006

Melody is defined as adding spatial dimension to the rhythm which is temporal concept. Being able to understand melodic pattern and to reproduce the pattern also requires cognitive skills. Since 1980, there has been much research on the relationship between academic skills and music cognitive skills, and how to transfer the skills learned in music work to the academic learning. The study purported to examine various research outcomes dealing with the correlational and causal relationships between musical and academic skills. The two dominating theories explaining the connection between two skills ares are "neural theory" and "near transfer theory." The theories focus mainly on the transference of spatial and temporal reasoning which are reinforced in the musical learning. The study reviewed the existing meta-analysis studies, which provided evidence for positive correlation between academic and musical skills, and significance of musical learning in academic skills. The study further examined specific skills area that musical learning is correlated, such as mathematics and reading. The research stated that among many mathematical concepts, proportional topics have the strongest correlation with musical skills. Also with reading, temporal processing also has strong relationship with auditory skills and motor skills, and further affect language and literacy ability. The study suggest that skills learned in the musical work can be transferred to other areas of learning and structured music activities may be every efficient for children for facilitating academic concepts.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.187-206
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• 2009

On this study, the historical flow of the notation was briefly examined and the direction of mathematical investigation activity of the content of notation by analogy was explored and teaching learning materials were developed. Diverse mathematical facts were investigated on the basis of decimal system and binary system which are learned in middle school. First, the way of progressing analytic activity with algebraic material was examined. Second, on the basis of the notation which are learned in the first grade of middle school, the definition of the scale of a -notation, -a -notation, $\frac{1}{a}$notation, $\sqrt{a}$-notation was extended by analogy. The result of this study will be expected to establish the curriculum of mathematics and provide teaching and learning with the meaningful current events.