• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.103-116
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• 2011

'The nine chapters on the mathematical art' has dominated the history of Chinese mathematics. It contains 246 problems and their solutions, which fall into nine categories that are firmly based on practical needs. But it has been greatly by improved by the commentary given Liu Hui and it was transformed from arithmetic text to mathematics. The improved book served as important textbook in China but also the East Asian countries for the past 2000 years. Also It is comparable in significance to Euclid's Elements in the West. In the middle of 19th century, Chosun mathematicians Nam Byung Gil(南秉吉) and Lee Sang Hyuk(李尙爀) studied mathematical structures developed in Song(宋) and Yuan(元) eras on top of their early on 'The nine chapters' and 'ShuLiJingYun(數理精蘊)'. Their studies gave rise to a momentum for a prominent development of Choson mathematics in the century. Nam Byung Gil is also commentator on 'The Nine Chapters'. His commentary is 'GuJangSulHae(九章術解)'. This book provides figures and explanations of how the algorithms work. These are very helpful for prospective elementary teachers. We try to plan programs of elementary teacher education on the basis of 'The Nine Chapters' and 'GuJangSulHae'.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.977-998
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• 2009

In this article, we give a comparative study on the last 300 years of USA and Korean tertiary mathematics. The first mathematics classes in United States were offered before July, 1638, but the real founding of tertiary mathematics courses was in 1640 when Henry Dunster assumed the duties of the presidency at Harvard. President Dunster read arithmetics and geometry on Mondays and Tuesdays to the third year students during the first three quarters, and astronomy in the last quarter. So tertiary mathematics education in United States began at Harvard which is the oldest college in USA. After 230 years since then, Benjamin Peirce in 1870 made a major and first American contribution to mathematics and got an attention from European mathematicians. Major change on the role of Harvard mathematics from teaching to research made by G.D. Birkhoff when he joined as an assistant professor in 1912. Tertiary mathematics education in Korea started long before Chosun Dynasty. But it was given to only small number of government actuarial officers. Modern mathematics education of tertiary level in Korea was given at Sungkyunkwan, Ewha, Paichai, and Soongsil. But all college level education opportunity, particularly in mathematics, was taken over by colonial government after 1920. And some technical and normal schools offered some tertiary mathematics courses. There was no college mathematics department in Korea until 1945. After the World War II, the first college mathematics department was established, and Rimhak Ree in 1949 made a major and first Korean contribution to modern mathematics, and later found Ree group. He got an attention from western mathematicians for the first time as a Korean. It can be compared with Benjamin Peirce's contribution for USA.