• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.175-194
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• 2022

This study intends to suggest implications by comparing the high school mathematics curricula between Korea and the UK ahead of the 2022 revision of the mathematics curriculum. The UK has revised assessments to emphasize mathematics after age 16 since 2017. Thus, in this study, the contents of Key Stage 4, Core Maths and A-level, which correspond to the UK high school mathematics curriculum, were examined and compared with Korean high school math subjects. In the UK, mathematics education is more emphasized at the high school level. The national curriculum emphasized 'numeracy and mathematics', and students' selection for mathematics courses were expanded. In order to prepare for the future society, new mathematics subjects and evaluations were developed and implemented, and the A-level mathematics was improved. In addition, the subject-centered content was developed and continuously handled from Key Stage 3 to the high school stage. It was structured to facilitate mathematics' internal and external connection by linking it with the subjects of other areas.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.371-402
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• 2016

The aim of this study is to compare mathematics curriculum among the United States, Singapore, England, Japan, Australia and Korea and offer suggestions to improve mathematics curriculum of Korea in the future. In order to attain these purposes, the analysis was conducted in many aspects including mathematics education system, mathematics courses, mathematics contents, assessment syllabus for university entrance examination and the construction principles of mathematics curriculum. In the light of the results of this study, our suggestions for improving mathematics curriculum of Korea are as follows: revising the contents of analysis, geometry, probability and statistics strands; organizing curriculum based on spiral construction principle; providing various opportunities to select mathematics courses according to students'career; reflecting the contents of their courses in university entrance examination.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.679-700
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• 2017

In this study, revisions of university entrance exams of mathematics in the UK, Australia and Japan are investigated. In the UK, A-level mathematics are revised to harmonize pure and applied mathematics so that the subjects and contents of each test are adjusted, and new types of items are announced. NSW university entrance exams in Australia are being revised in line with the Stronger Higher School Certificate policy, which basically reinforces mathematics. In Japan, as part of the educational reforms that link high schools and universities, current exams of National Center for University Entrance Examinations are abolished and Common Test for University Entrance is introduced. Mathematics of new test emphasizes comprehension, judgement and expression with new items and short-answer questions. Based on the case of the UK, Australia and Japan, this study discussed improvement of mathematics test in the Collage Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) Korea in terms of objects and characteristics of test, systems and types of items. and support from academia.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.117-136
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• 2012

The goal of this study is to investigate a didactic transposition method of text books and high school students' understanding for the Normal Distribution. To accomplish this goal, framework descriptors were developed to analyse the didactic transposition method and interpret the students' understanding based on the Historico-Genetic process of the Normal Distribution, the meaning of the Normal Distribution as a scholarly knowledge and the results of previous studies on students' understanding for the Normal Distribution. This study presented several recommendations for instruction of the Normal Distribution according to the results of analysing the didactic transposition method and interpreting the students' understanding in terms of the developed framework.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.403-420
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• 2016

Some of the critical changes in the revised 2015 Korean Mathematics curriculum were that direct proportion and inverse proportion were moved from elementary school to middle school and that supplementary content related to correlation was included. These decisions were based on comparative studies of international curriculum. Therefore in this study, we selected countries for comparison; United States, England, France, Finland, Australia, Japan, Singapore, China and Taiwan. We looked into the timing and scope for direct/inverse proportion and correlation in curricula of these countries. Along with this, we established four criteria; vertical sequence, horizontal sequence, external connection, and internal connection for an analysis framework. Then we compared and analysed the direct/inverse proportion and correlation in each curriculum. As a result, in most of these curricula, the direct/inverse proportions are introduced at middle school or are introduced at elementary school and then developed further at middle school. Most of curriculums on direct/inverse proportion and correlation match the four criteria. Correlation is introduced in high school mathematics in all counties except Finland and it is dealt in diverse context introducing related concepts, for example, correlation coefficient, regression straight line, and least square. We suggested that it is necessary to refer these international trends for the next revision of curriculum.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.179-193
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• 2006

The aim of this paper is to explore and understand, using in-depth interviews, the participant's enthusiasm for and involvement in studying mathematics and the deeper nature of his/her interest in mathematics teaching. In addition a larger aim is to understand how the individual's interest in mathematics and teaching are linked to his/her larger personal fulfillment. We conducted in-depth interviews with 4 pre-service teachers' subjective experiences focusing on deep motivation, pedagogical content knowledge, inner vision. Interviews focus much more on the participant's spontaneous feeling, consciousness, and state as these arise in the interview, and on past foiling, consciousness and state as they appear to the participant subjectively retrospectively in his/her memory. The output of this research consists of 2 portraits out of 4 individual participants, highlighting and conceptually developing the specific aspects under study; different ways in which individuals' involvement with the subject area affects their motivation, inner visions and academic efforts toward becoming teachers. Larger aspects of pre-service teachers' subjective experiences were sketched by contrasting the two cases. Several suggestions were put at the end to enhance mathematics education concerning curriculum development.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.335-354
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to explore alternative ways of teaching derivatives in a way that emphasizes intuition. For this purpose, the contents related to derivatives in Korean curriculum and textbooks were analyzed by comparing with contents in Singapore Curriculum and textbooks. Singapore, where the curriculum deals with derivatives relatively earlier than Korea, introduces the concept of derivatives and differentiation as the slope of tangent instead of the rate of instantaneous change in textbook. Also, Singapore use technology and inductive extrapolation to emphasize intuition rather than form and logic. Further, from the results of the exploration of other foreign cases, we confirm that the UK and Australia also emphasized intuition in teaching derivatives and differentiation. Based on the results, we discuss the meaning and implication of introducing derivatives and teaching differentiation in a way that emphasizes intuition. Finally, we propose the implications for the alternative way of teaching differentiation.