• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.45-58
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• 1997

초등학교 아동은 교육과정을 이수하면서 수 영역에서 자연수, 정수, 그리고 양의 유리수까지 학습하게 되어 있다(교육부, 1992). 초등학교에서의 유리수는 분수ㆍ소수를 의미하는 소박한 의미의 유리수를 의미한다. 여기서 유리수는 자연수와 정수를 포괄하는 수 체계적 의미로서 포함관계가 강조되지는 않는다.(중략)

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.483-498
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dispositions of university students' understanding and reasoning about rational number concept. For this, we surveyed for the subject groups of prospective math teachers(33), engineering major students(35), American engineering and science major students(28). The questionnaire consists of four problems related to understanding of rational number concept and three problems related to rational number operation reasoning. We asked multi-answers for the front four problem and the order of favorite algorithms for the back three problems. As a result, we found that university students don't understand exactly the facets of rational number and prefer the mechanic approaches rather than conceptual one. Furthermore, they reasoned illogically in many situations related to fraction, ratio, proportion, rational number and don't recognize exactly the connection between them, and confuse about rational number concept.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.285-298
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• 2008

According to the 7th curriculum, irrational numbers should be introduced using infinite decimals in 9th grade. To do so, the relation between rational numbers and decimals should be explained in 8th grade. Preceding studies remarked that middle school students could understand the relation between rational numbers and decimals through the division appropriately. From the point of view with the arithmetic handling activity, I analyzed that the integers and terminating decimals was explained as decimals with repeating 0s or 9s. And, I reviewed the equivalent relations between irrational numbers and non-repeating decimals, rational numbers and repeating decimals. Furthermore, I suggested an alternative method of introducing irrational numbers.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.21-39
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• 2021

The aim of this study was to deduce implications of the growth of mathematics teachers' specialty for effective instruction about the formulae of exponentiation with rational exponents by analyzing teachers' understanding of the definition of rational exponent. In order to accomplish the aim, this study ascertained the nature of the definition of rational exponent through examining previous literature and established specific research questions with reference to the results of the examination. A questionnaire regarding the nature of the definition was developed in order to solve the questions and was taken to 50 in-service high school teachers. By analysing the data from the written responses by the teachers, this study delineated four characteristics of the teachers' understanding with regard to the definition of rational exponent. Firstly, the teachers did not explicitly use the condition of the bases with rational exponents while proving f'(x)=rxr-1. Secondly, few teachers explained the reason why the bases with rational exponents must be positive. Thirdly, there were some teachers who misunderstood the formulae of exponentiation with rational exponents. Lastly, the majority of teachers thought that $(-8)^{\frac{1}{3}}$ equals to -2. Additionally, several issues were discussed related to teacher education for enhancing teachers' knowledge about the definition, features of effective instruction on the formulae of exponentiation and improvement points to explanation methods about the definition and formulae on the current high school textbooks.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.139-156
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• 2008

We investigate the inducing method of irrational numbers in junior high school, under algebraic as well as geometric point of view. Also we study the treatment of irrational numbers in the 7th national curriculum. In fact, we discover that i) incommensurability as essential factor of concept of irrational numbers is not treated, and ii) the concept of irrational numbers is not smoothly interconnected to that of rational numbers. In order to understand relationally the incommensurability, we suggest the method for inducing irrational numbers using construction in junior high school.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.135-158
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• 2012

The ideals of the rings of integers are used to induce rational number system as operators(=group homomorphisms). We modify this inducing method to be effective in teaching rational numbers in secondary school. Indeed, this modification provides a nice model for explaining the equality property to define addition and multiplication of rational numbers. Also this will give some explicit ideas for students to understand the concept of 'field' efficiently comparing with the integer number system.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.263-279
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• 2015

The introduction of real numbers is one of the most difficult steps in the teaching of school mathematics since the mathematical justification of the extension from rational to real numbers requires the completeness property. The author elucidated what questions about real numbers can be unanswered as the "institutional didactic void" in school mathematics defining real numbers as the union of the rational and irrational numbers. The pre-service teachers' explanations on the extension from rational to real numbers and the raison d'$\hat{e}$tre of arbitrary non-recurring decimals showed the superficial and fragmentary understanding of real numbers. Connecting school mathematics to university mathematics via the didactic void, the author discussed how pre-service teachers could break the illusion of transparency about the real number.

• School Mathematics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is searching for the problems and alternatives on teaching for repeating decimal. To accomplish the purpose, we have analyzed the fifth, sixth, and seventh Korean national curriculums, textbooks and examinations for the eighth grade about repeating decimal. W also have analyzed textbooks from USA to find for alternatives. As the results, we found followings. First, the national curriculums blocked us verifying the relation between rational number and repeating decimal. Second, definitions of terminating decimal, infinite decimal, and repeating decimal are slightly different in every textbooks. This leads seriously confusion for students examinations. The alternative on these problems is defining the terminating decimal as following; decimal which continually obtains only zeros in the quotient. That is, we have to avoid the representation of repeating decimal repeated nines under a declared system which apply an infinite decimal continually obtaining only zeros in the quotient. Then, we do not have any problems to verify the following statement. A number is a rational number if and only if it can be represented by a repeating decimal.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.237-246
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• 2007

According to 7-th curriculum, irrational number should be introduced using non-repeating infinite decimals. A rational number is defined by a number determined by the ratio of some integer p to some non-zero integer q in 7-th grade. In 8-th grade, A number is rational number if and only if it can be expressed as finite decimal or repeating decimal. A irrational number is defined by non-repeating infinite decimal in 9-th grade. There are misconceptions about a non-repeating infinite decimal. Although 1.4532954$\cdots$ is neither a rational number nor a irrational number, many high school students determine 1.4532954$\cdots$ is a irrational number and 0.101001001$\cdots$ is a rational number. The cause of misconceptions is the definition of a irrational number defined by non-repeating infinite decimals. It is a cause of misconception about a irrational number that a irrational number is defined by a non-repeating infinite decimals and the method of using symbol dots in infinite decimal is not defined in text books.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.2-6
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• 1969