• 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.

• School Mathematics
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.651-665
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• 2013

The aim of this study is to find how unformal proof activities contribute to solving problems successfully and to confirm the role of teachers in the progress. For this, we developed a task that can help students communicate actively with the concept of unformal proof activities and conducted a case lesson with 6 graders in Elementary school. The study shows that unformal proof activities contribute to constructing representations which are needed to solve math problems, setting up plans for problem-solving and finding right answers accordingly as well as verifying the appropriation of the answers. However, to get more out of it, teachers need to develop a variety of tasks that can stimulate students and also help them talk as actively as they can manage to find right answers. Furthermore, encouraging their guessing and deepening their thought with appropriate remarks and utterances are also very important part of what teachers need to have in order to get more positive effect from these activities.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.109-128
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• 2013

With the growth of contents business, the expansion of domestic culture contents into global market became active. However, while some field such as game, music and movie have made fine results, education contents has failed to make significant success in global market. Therefore, this study intends to look into a case of Contents Management Institute(CMI), which spread G-Learning into La Ballona Elementary School located in LA. In this case, CMI successfully dealt with diverse difficulties to conduct a G-Learning class in the school and helped to increase students' achievement. Based on analyzing this case, this study suggests three reasons behind the success. First, by separating platform and learning contents in development process, CMI could save the cost in contents development and handle problems swiftly. Second, it could be possible to use human resources efficiently by constucting a support organization. Third, by sharing information and doing persuasion CMI could lead to chain persuasion process among local decision makers.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.71-80
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• 2017

The standards for achievement levels for building blocks in elementary geometry class is to enhance spatial cognitive ability through practices describing shape patterns of building blocks observed from different directions. However, most of building block in the textbook is described from only one perspective. Even worse, some examples in the textbook are almost impossible to observe in the real world. Contrary to this, simulated views by Wings3D has shown that each box may look quite differently from different angles let alone the size of each box. Using Wings3D, it is also very easy to build different types of building blocks with various levels of difficulty in the virtual space. Based on these results, in this study, 3D visualization SW is suggested as a potential pedagogical tool for the elementary geometry class to help kids perceive objects in space more precisely. We have shown that 3D visualization SW such as Wings3D could be a powerful, compact 3D SW for most of subjects which are covered in elementary geometry education. Wings3D has another advantage of economic open source SW fully compatible with school PCs.

• 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 Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.241-262
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• 2010

This study was carried out to identify the cognitive obstacles while using addition and subtraction with fractions, and to analyze the sources of cognitive obstacles. For this purpose, the following research questions were established : 1. What errors do elementary students make while performing the operations with fractions, and what cognitive obstacles do they have? 2. What sources cause the cognitive obstacles to occur? The results obtained in this study were as follows : First, the student's cognitive obstacles were classified as those operating with same denominators, different denominators, and both. Some common cognitive obstacles that occurred when operating with same denominators and with different denominators were: the students would use division instead of addition and subtraction to solve their problems, when adding fractions, the students would make a natural number as their answer, the students incorporated different solving methods when working with improper fractions, as well as, making errors when reducing fractions. Cognitive obstacles in operating with same denominators were: adding the natural number to the numerator, subtracting the small number from the big number without carrying over, and making errors when doing so. Cognitive obstacles while operating with different denominators were their understanding of how to work with the denominators and numerators, and they made errors when reducing fractions to common denominators. Second, the factors that affected these cognitive obstacles were classified as epistemological factors, psychological factors, and didactical factors. The epistemological factors that affected the cognitive obstacles when using addition and subtraction with fractions were focused on hasty generalizations, intuition, linguistic representation, portions. The psychological factors that affected the cognitive obstacles were focused on instrumental understanding, notion image, obsession with operation of natural numbers, and constraint satisfaction.

• School Mathematics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.85-107
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• 2012

Problem solving is important in school mathematics as the means and end of mathematics education. In elementary school, inductive reasoning is closely linked to problem solving. The purpose of this study was to examine ways of improving problem solving ability through analysis of inductive reasoning process. After the process of inductive reasoning in problem solving was analyzed, five different stages of inductive reasoning were selected. It's assumed that the flow of inductive reasoning would begin with stage 0 and then go on to the higher stages step by step, and diverse sorts of additional inductive reasoning flow were selected depending on what students would do in case of finding counter examples to a regulation found by them or to their inference. And then a case study was implemented after four elementary school students who were in their sixth grade were selected in order to check the appropriateness of the stages and flows of inductive reasoning selected in this study, and how to teach inductive reasoning and what to teach to improve problem solving ability in terms of questioning and advising, the creation of student-centered class culture and representation were discussed to map out lesson plans. The conclusion of the study and the implications of the conclusion were as follows: First, a change of teacher roles is required in problem-solving education. Teachers should provide students with a wide variety of problem-solving strategies, serve as facilitators of their thinking and give many chances for them ide splore the given problems on their own. And they should be careful entegieto take considerations on the level of each student's understanding, the changes of their thinking during problem-solving process and their response. Second, elementary schools also should provide more intensive education on justification, and one of the best teaching methods will be by taking generic examples. Third, a student-centered classroom should be created to further the class participation of students and encourage them to explore without any restrictions. Fourth, inductive reasoning should be viewed as a crucial means to boost mathematical creativity.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.619-636
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• 2012

The main purpose of this study was to explore the process of generalization generated by mathematically gifted students. Specifically, this study probed how fourth, fifth, and sixth graders might generalize geometric patterns and represent such generalization. The subjects of this study were a total of 30 students from gifted classes of one elementary school in Korea. The results of this study showed that on the question of the launch stage, students used a lot of recursive strategies that built mainly on a few specific numbers in the given pattern in order to decide the number of successive differences. On the question of the towards a working generalization stage, however, upper graders tend to use a contextual strategy of looking for a pattern or making an equation based on the given information. The more difficult task, more students used recursive strategies or concrete strategies such as drawing or skip-counting. On the question of the towards an explicit generalization stage, students tended to describe patterns linguistically. However, upper graders used more frequently algebraic representations (symbols or formulas) than lower graders did. This tendency was consistent with regard to the question of the towards a justification stage. This result implies that mathematically gifted students use similar strategies in the process of generalizing a geometric pattern but upper graders prefer to use algebraic representations to demonstrate their thinking process more concisely. As this study examines the strategies students use to generalize a geometric pattern, it can provoke discussion on what kinds of prompts may be useful to promote a generalization ability of gifted students and what sorts of teaching strategies are possible to move from linguistic representations to algebraic representations.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2019

Mathematics is one of the subjects in which learners seriously experience under-achievements in school education. Middle school level mathematics especially plays such a role as a bridge between elementary level informal mathematics and high school level formal mathematics that learners' under-achievements in the middle school level mathematics may yield more serious under-achievements later. Therefore it is crucial to prevent learners' later under-achievements that we analyze the status of under achievements including analysing various under-achievers' errors in the middle school level mathematics. From this point of view, we analysed errors of mathematics under-achievers in understanding the concept of the square root of positive numbers and related calculations in this paper. As the results of our research, we found some unexpected errors of 'some mathematics under-achievers regarding the mathematical symbol ${\surd}$ of square root as a parenthesis ( ), and others interpret $x=-2{\pm}{\sqrt{10}}$ as x=-2 or ${\pm}{\sqrt{10}}$.' that suggest the necessity of more various and in-depth discussions and researches of analysis on learners' errors and misconceptions in all areas of school mathematics.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.321-350
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• 2013

The purpose of this study to analysis of problem posing in 5th and 6th grade mathematics textbooks and to comprehend errors in the problem posing activity of 6th graders in elementary school. For solving the research problems, problem posing contents were extracted from mathematics textbooks and practice books for the 5th and 6th grade of elementary school in the 2007 revised national curriculum, and they were analyzed, according to each grade, domain and type. Based on the analysis results, 10 problem posing questions which were extracted and developed, were modified and supplemented through a pre-examination, and a questionnaire that problem posing questions are evenly distributed, according to each grade, domain and type, was produced. This examination was conducted with 129 6th graders, and types of error in problem posing were analyzed using collected data. The implications from the research results are as follows. First, it was found that there was a big numerical difference of problem posing questions in the 5th and 6th grade, and problem posing questions weren't properly suggested in even some domains and types, because the serious concentration in each grade, type and domain. Therefore, textbooks to be developed in the future would need to suggest more various and systematic of problem posing teaching learning activity for each domain and type. Second, the 'error resulting from the lack of information' occurred the most in the problems that 6th graders posed, followed by the 'error in the understanding of problems', 'technical errors', 'logical errors' and 'others'. This implies that a majority of students missed conditions necessary for problem solving, because they have been used to finding answers to given questions only. For such reason, there should be an environment in which students can pose problems by themselves, breaking from the way of learning to only solve given problems.