• Journal of Science Education
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.273-285
• /
• 2023

Measurement in elementary school mathematics is one of the mathematical concepts that is directly used in real life. This study is based on the fact that mathematics textbooks for 3-4 and 5-6 graders were developed as the government designed and authorized textbooks and the general measurement instruction process is condensed and presented considering the limitation of the textbook's space for the capacity and weight. Its contents were analyzed. The results are as follows. The contents of authorized textbooks and government designed textbook are different in detail but similar overall in comparative activities, recognition, and situation of the need for the introduction of standard unit and estimation activities. Through this, it is proposed that efforts are needed to reform national textbook policies and develop textbooks that can highlight the meaning of each measurement activity and focus on students' activities.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.565-586
• /
• 1998

Like many other school subjects, terminology is a starting point of mathematical thinking, and plays a key role in mathematics learning. Among several areas in mathematics, geometry is the area in which students usually have the difficulty of learning, and the new terms are frequently appeared. This is why we started to investigate geometric terms first. The purpose of this study is to investigate geometric terminology in school mathematics. To do this, we traced the historical transition of geometric terminology from the first revised mathematics curriculum to the 7th revised one, and compared the geometric terminology of korean, english, Japanese, and North Korean. Based on this investigation, we could find and structuralize the following four issues. The first issue is that there are two different perspectives regarding the definitions of geometric terminology: inclusion perspective and partition perspective. For example, a trapezoid is usually defined in terms of inclusion perspective in asian countries while the definition of trapezoid in western countries are mostly based on partition perspective. This is also the case of the relation of congruent figures and similar figures. The second issue is that sometimes there are discrepancies between the definitions of geometric figures and what the name of geometric figures itself implies. For instance, a isosceles trapezoid itself means the trapezoid with congruent legs, however the definition of isosceles trapezoid is the trapezoid with two congruent angles. Thus the definition of the geometric figure and what the term of the geometric figure itself implies are not consistent. We also found this kind of discrepancy in triangle. The third issue is that geometric terms which borrow the name of things are not desirable. For example, Ma-Rum-Mo(rhombus) in Korean borrows the name from plants, and Sa-Da-Ri-Gol(trapezoid) in Korean implies the figure which resembles ladder. These terms have the chance of causing students' misconception. The fourth issue is that whether we should Koreanize geometric terminology or use Chinese expression. In fact, many geometric terms are made of Chinese characters. It's very hard for students to perceive the ideas existing in terms which are made of chines characters. In this sense, it is necessary to Koreanize geometric terms. However, Koreanized terms always work. Therefore, we should find the optimal point between Chines expression and Korean expression. In conclusion, when we name geometric figures, we should consider the ideas behind geometric figures. The names of geometric figures which can reveal the key ideas related to those geometric figures are the most desirable terms.

• Journal of Science Education
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.92-111
• /
• 2020

The 2015 revised science curriculum and NGSS (Next Generation Science Standard) suggest computational thinking as an inquiry skill or competency. Particularly, concern in computational thinking has increased since the Ministry of Education has required software education since 2014. However, there is still insufficient discussion on how to integrate computational thinking in science education. Therefore, this study aims to prepare a way to integrate computational thinking elements into scientific inquiry by analyzing the related literature. In order to achieve this goal, we summarized various definitions of the elements of computational thinking and analyzed general problem solving process and scientific inquiry process to develop and suggest the model. We also considered integrated problem solving cases from the computer science field and summarized the elements of the Computational Thinking-Scientific Inquiry (CT-SI) model. We asked scientists to explain their research process based on the elements. Based on these explanations from the scientists, we developed 'Problem-finding' CT-SI model and 'Problem solving' CT-SI model. These two models were reviewed by scientists. 'Problem-finding' model is relevant for selecting information and analyzing problems in the theoretical research. 'Problem solving' is suitable for engineering problem solving process using a general research process and engineering design. In addition, two teachers evaluated whether these models could be used in the secondary school curriculum. The models we developed in this study linked with the scientific inquiry and this will help enhance the practices of 'collecting, analyzing and interpreting data,' 'use of mathematical thinking and computer' suggested in the 2015 revised curriculum.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.39-62
• /
• 2013

On the standards or elements of teaching evaluation, the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation(KICE) has carried out the following research such as : 1) development of the standards on teaching evaluation between 2004 and 2006, and 2) investigation on the elements of Teacher Knowledge. The purposes of development of evaluation standards for mathematics teaching through those studies were to improve not only mathematics teachers' professionalism but also their own teaching methods or strategies. In this study, the standards were revised and modified by analyzing the results of those studies focused on the knowledge of subject matter knowledge, knowledge of learners' understanding, teaching and learning methods and assessments, and teaching contexts. For this purpose, according to those evaluation domains of each teacher knowledge, elements on teaching evaluation focused on the teacher's knowledge were established using the instructional evaluation framework, which is developed in this study, including the four areas of knowledge obtaining, instructional planning, instructional implementation, and instructional reflection. In this study, 1st and 2nd pilot studies was accomplished for revising evaluation standards and as a result, the procedure for implementing mathematics teaching using evaluation standards was changed to evaluate teachers own teaching using the standards focused on instructional reflection and according to the degree of satisfaction on reflecting their own teaching, standards on knowledge obtaining, instructional planning, instructional implementation would be utilized. Teacher survey is accomplished two times, by the subject of seven teachers. According ot the result of the first teacher questionnaire which was consisted of the essay type of questions on the degree of understanding the content of standards, the evaluation standards were revised. According ot the result of the second teacher questionnaire which was consisted of the essay type of questions on the application of standards, the evaluation standards were revised finally and the way of how to use the standards efficiently was suggested.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.425-444
• /
• 2019

Comparing to the U.S. mathematics textbooks, this study examines the opportunity to learn statistical processes represented in mathematics textbooks reflecting 2015 revised curriculum. Analyzing four different kinds of Korean middle school mathematics textbooks and two kinds of corresponding U.S. textbooks for seventh graders, we found that the tasks dealing with all the phases of statistical processes were found only in the U.S. textbooks while not even one task in such a case was not observed in the Korean textbooks. To make matters worse, the proportion of the tasks dealing with only one phase of statistical processes was 93.3% of all the tasks in Korean textbooks. In terms of types of tasks, the types of tasks were very homogeneous in Korean textbooks, usually Types FPR or PR while more various types of tasks were found in the U.S. textbooks such as Types FRI, PRI, FR, or RI. In views of features of each phase in statistical processes, Korean textbooks heavily focused only on some particular statistical behaviors such as 'formulating a problem', 'collecting data', 'transforming data', and 'analyzing a part of data.' The findings of this study provide meaningful implications for improving statistics education and developing mathematics textbooks to enhance students' statistical thinking and problem-solving ability.

• Journal of Science Education
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.331-344
• /
• 2020

This study aims to find meaningful implications for the development of Korean elementary school math education courses and textbooks by comparing and analyzing the number and arithmetic areas of Korean and Canadian math textbooks in fifth and sixth grades. To this end, the textbook composition system of Korean and Canadian elementary schools was compared and analyzed, and the number and timing of introduction of math textbooks and math textbooks by grade, and the number in fifth and sixth grade and the learning contents of math textbooks were compared and analyzed. The following conclusions were obtained from this study: First, it is necessary to organize a textbook that can solve the problem in an integrated way by introducing the learned mathematical concepts and computations naturally in the context of problems closely related to real life, regardless of the type of private calculation or mathematics area. Second, it is necessary to organize questions using materials such as real photography and mathematics, science, technology, engineering, art, etc. and to organize textbooks that make people feel the necessity and usefulness of mathematics. Third, sufficient learning of the principles of mathematics through the use of various actual teaching aids and mathematical models, and the construction of textbooks focusing on problem-solving strategies using engineering tools are needed. Fourth, in-depth discussions are needed on the timing of learning guidance for fractions and minority learning or how to organize and develop learning content.

• The Mathematical Education
• /
• v.63 no.2
• /
• pp.255-272
• /
• 2024

This study aims to design mathematics-integrated classes that cultivate artificial intelligence (AI) thinking and to analyze students' AI thinking within these classes. To do this, four classes were designed through the integration of the AI4K12 Initiative's AI Big Ideas with the 2015 revised elementary mathematics curriculum. Implementation of three classes took place with 5th and 6th grade elementary school students. Leveraging the computational thinking taxonomy and the AI thinking components, a comprehensive framework for analyzing of AI thinking was established. Using this framework, analysis of students' AI thinking during these classes was conducted based on classroom discourse and supplementary worksheets. The results of the analysis were peer-reviewed by two researchers. The research findings affirm the potential of mathematics-integrated classes in nurturing students' AI thinking and underscore the viability of AI education for elementary school students. The classes, based on AI Big Ideas, facilitated elementary students' understanding of AI concepts and principles, enhanced their grasp of mathematical content elements, and reinforced mathematical process aspects. Furthermore, through activities that maintain structural consistency with previous problem-solving methods while applying them to new problems, the potential for the transfer of AI thinking was evidenced.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.45-63
• /
• 2023

The activity of finding rules is useful for enhancing the algebraic thinking of elementary school students. This study analyzed the pattern activities of a finding rules unit in 10 different government-authorized mathematics curricular materials for fourth graders aligned to the 2015 revised national mathematics curriculum. The analytic elements included three main activities: (a) activities of analyzing the structure of patterns, (b) activities of finding a specific term by finding a rule, and (c) activities of representing the rule. The three activities were mainly presented regarding growing numeric patterns, growing geometric patterns, and computational patterns. The activities of analyzing the structure of patterns were presented when dealing mainly with growing geometric patterns and focused on finding the number of models constituting the pattern. The activities of finding a specific term by finding a rule were evenly presented across the three patterns and the specific term tended to be close to the terms presented in the given task. The activities of representing the rule usually encouraged students to talk about or write down the rule using their own words. Based on the results of these analyses, this study provides specific implications on how to develop subsequent mathematics curricular materials regarding pattern activities to enhance elementary school students' algebraic thinking.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.39-55
• /
• 2024

Recently, the 2022 revised mathematics curriculum has established achievement standards for equal sign and equality, and efforts have been made to examine teaching methods and student understanding of relational understanding of equal sign. In this context, this study conducted a lesson that emphasized relational understanding in an introduction to equal sign, and compared and analyzed the understanding of equal sign between the experimental group, which participated in the lesson emphasizing relational understanding and the control group, which participated in the standard lesson. For this purpose, two classes of students participated in this study, and the results were analyzed by administering pre- and post-tests on the understanding of equal sign. The results showed that students in the experimental group had significantly higher average scores than students in the control group in all areas of equation-structure, equal sign-definition, and equation-solving. In addition, when comparing the means of students by item, we found that there was a significant difference between the means of the control group and the experimental group in the items dealing with equal sign in the structure of 'a=b' and 'a+b=c+d', and that most of the students in the experimental group correctly answered 'sameness' as the meaning of equal sign, but there were still many responses that interpreted the equal sign as 'answer'. Based on these results, we discussed the implications for instruction that emphasizes relational understanding in equal sign introduction lessons.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.85-101
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study was to make suggestions for improvement by analyzing the activity tasks in the clothing life area in middle school 「Technology & Home Economics」 textbooks of the 2015 revised curriculum. For this purpose, the multiple intelligence teaching-learning strategy analysis criteria were reconstructed and used for analysis. The activity tasks of the clothing life area of 「Technology & Home Economics I」 textbooks from 12 different publishers were analyzed based on the reconstructed analysis criteria, and the content validity was verified by 11 experts. The content validity, assessed by CVI was 0.94. According to the results, the logical·mathematical intelligence accounted for the highest proportion with 31.02%, followed by linguistic intelligence(23.81%), visual/spatial intelligence(17.08%), intrapersonal intelligence(14.71%), interpersonal intelligence(5.79%), bodily/kinesthetic intelligence(5.22%), naturalistic intelligence(2.37%), and musical intelligence(0.00%). The results showed that the teaching-learning strategies most frequently implemented in clothing life area were logical/mathematical intelligence, linguistic intelligence, visual/spatial intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence. On the other hand, teaching-learning strategies related to interpersonal intelligence, bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, and naturalistic intelligence were used at a relatively low proportion. Therefore, it is recommended to expand the teaching-learning strategies of interpersonal, bodily/kinesthetic, naturalistic and musical intelligence, for a more balanced intelligence development of students.