• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.457-484
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• 2015

This study aims to investigate an approach to teach proportional reasoning in elementary mathematics class by analyzing the proportional strategies the students use to solve the proportional reasoning tasks and their percentages of correct answers. For this research 174 sixth graders are examined. The instrument test consists of various questions types in reference to the previous study; the proportional reasoning tasks are divided into algebraic-geometric, quantitative-qualitative and missing value-comparisons tasks. Comparing the percentages of correct answers according to the task types, the algebraic tasks are higher than the geometric tasks, quantitative tasks are higher than the qualitative tasks, and missing value tasks are higher than the comparisons tasks. As to the strategies that students employed, the percentage of using the informal strategy such as factor strategy and unit rate strategy is relatively higher than that of using the formal strategy, even after learning the cross product strategy. As an insightful approach for teaching proportional reasoning, based on the study results, it is suggested to teach the informal strategy explicitly instead of the informal strategy, reinforce the qualitative reasoning while combining the qualitative with the quantitative reasoning, and balance the various task types in the mathematics classroom.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.251-279
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• 2016

There are many studies on 'how' students solve mathematical problems, but few of them sufficiently explained 'why' they have to solve the problems in their own different ways. As quantitative reasoning is the basis for algebraic reasoning, to scrutinize a student's way of dealing with quantities in a problem situation is critical for understanding why the student has to solve it in such a way. From our teaching experiments with two ninth-grade students, we found that emergences of a certain level of covariational reasoning were highly consistent across different types of problems within each participating student. They conceived the given problem situations at different levels of covariation and constructed their own quantity-structures. It led them to solve the problems with the resources accessible to their structures only, and never reconciled with the other's solving strategies even after having reflection and discussion on their solutions. It indicates that their own structure of quantities constrained the whole process of problem solving and they could not discard the structures. Based on the results, we argue that teachers, in order to provide practical supports for students' problem solving, need to focus on the students' way of covariational reasoning of problem situations.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.211-230
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• 2016

The study aimed to investigate the characteristics of algebraic thinking of the mathematically gifted students and search for how to teach algebraic thinking. Research subjects in this study included 93 students who applied for a science gifted education center affiliated with a university in 2015 and previously experienced gifted education. Students' responses on an algebraic item of a creative thinking test in mathematics, which was given as screening process for admission were collected as data. A framework of algebraic thinking factors were extracted from literature review and utilized for data analysis. It was found that students showed difficulty in quantitative reasoning between two quantities and tendency to find solutions regarding equations as problem solving tools. In this process, students tended to concentrate variables on unknown place holders and to had difficulty understanding various meanings of variables. Some of students generated errors about algebraic concepts. In conclusions, it is recommended that functional thinking including such as generalizing and reasoning the relation among changing quantities is extended, procedural as well as structural aspects of algebraic expressions are emphasized, various situations to learn variables are given, and activities constructing variables on their own are strengthened for improving gifted students' learning and teaching algebra.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.81-98
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• 2009

This study analyzed the types of quantitative reasoning and the characteristics of representation in order to figure out the characteristics of quantitative reasoning of the sixth graders. Three students who used quantitative reasoning in solving problems were interviewed in depth. Results showed that the three students used two types of quantitative reasoning, that is difference reasoning and multiplicative reasoning. They used qualitatively different quantitative reasoning, which had a great impact on their problem-solving strategy. Students used symbolic, linguistic and visual representations. Particularly, they used visual representations to represent quantities and relations between quantities included in the problem situation, and to deduce a new relation between quantities. This result implies that visual representation plays a prominent role in quantitative reasoning. This paper included several implications on quantitative reasoning and quantitative approach related to early algebra education.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.527-545
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• 2008

One of the education purpose of the section "Figures" in the eighth grade is to develop students' deductive reasoning ability, which is basic and essential for living in a democratic society. However, most or middle school students feel much more difficulty or even frustration in the study of formal arguments for geometric situations than any other mathematical fields. It is owing to the big gap between inductive reasoning in elementary school education and deductive reasoning, which is not intuitive, in middle school education. Also, it is very burden for students to describe geometric statements exactly by using various appropriate symbols. Moreover, Usage of the same symbols for angle and angle measurement or segments and segments measurement makes students more confused. Since geometric relations is mainly determined by the measurements of geometric objects, students should be able to interpret the geometric properties to the algebraic properties, and vice verse. In this paper, we first compare and contrast inductive and deductive reasoning approaches to justify geometric facts and relations in school curricula. Convincing arguments are based on experiment and experience, then are developed from inductive reasoning to deductive proofs. We introduce teaching methods to help students's understanding for deductive reasoning in the textbook by using stepwise visualization materials. It is desirable that an effective proof instruction should be able to provide teaching methods and visual materials suitable for students' intellectual level and their own intuition.

• School Mathematics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.819-838
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• 2016

This research analyzed proportional reasoning abilities of the 5th grade students who learned only the basis of ratio and rate and 6th grade students who also learned proportion and cross product strategy. Data were collected through the proportional reasoning tests and the interviews, and then the achievement of the students and their proportional reasoning strategies were analyzed. In the light of such analytical results, the conclusions are as follows. Firstly, there is not much difference between 5th and 6th grade students in the achievement scores. Secondly, both 5th and 6th graders are less familiar with the geometric, qualitative and comparisons tasks than the other tasks. Thirdly, not only 5th graders but also 6th graders used informal strategies much more than the formal strategy. Fourthly, some students can't come up with other strategies than the cross product strategy. Finally, many students have difficulties in discerning proportional situation and non-proportional situations. This study provided suggestions for improving teaching proportional reasoning in elementary schools in Korea as follows: focusing on letting students use their informal strategies fluently in geometric, qualitative, and comparisons tasks as well as algebraic, quantitative, and missing value tasks focusing on the concept of ratio and proportion instead of enforcing the formal strategy.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.275-292
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• 2010

In this study, we discussed the way to teach algebra earlier through investigating to research trends of Early Algebra and researching about nature of subject involving algebra. There is a strong view that arithmetic and algebra have analogous forms and that algebra is on extension to arithmetic. Nevertheless, it is also possible to present a perspective that the fundamental goal and role of symbols and letters are difference between arithmetic and algebra. And, we could recognize that geometry was starting point of algebra trough historical perspectives. To consider these, we extracted some of possible directions to approaches to teach algebra earlier. To access to teaching algebra earlier, following ways are possible. (1) To consider informal strategy of young children. (2) Arithmetic reasoning considered of the algebraic relation. (3) Starting to algebraic reasoning in the context of geometrical problem situation. (4) To present young students to tool of letters and formular.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.21-58
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• 2015

The aim of this study is to look into the didactical background for teaching proportional reasoning in elementary school mathematics and offer suggestions to improve teaching proportional reasoning in the future. In order to attain these purposes, this study extracted and examined key ideas with respect to the didactical background on teaching proportional reasoning through a theoretical consideration regarding various studies on proportional reasoning. Based on such examination, this study compared and analyzed textbooks used in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. In the light of such theoretical consideration and analytical results, this study provided suggestions for improving teaching proportional reasoning in elementary schools in Korea as follows: giving much weight on proportional reasoning, emphasizing multiplicative comparison and discerning between additive comparison and multiplicative comparison, underlining the ratio concept as an equivalent relation, balancing between comparisons tasks and missing value tasks inclusive of quantitative and qualitative, algebraic and geometrical aspects, emphasizing informal strategies of students before teaching cross-product method, and utilizing informal and pre-formal models actively.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.51-67
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• 2017

Analogical reasoning is a mathematically useful way of thinking. By analogy reasoning, students can improve problem solving, inductive reasoning, heuristic methods and creativity. The purpose of this study is to analyze the analogical reasoning of preservice mathematics teachers while constructing quadratic curves defined by eccentricity. To do this, we produced tasks and 28 preservice mathematics teachers solved. The result findings are as follows. First, students could not solve a target problem because of the absence of the mathematical knowledge of the base problem. Second, although student could solve a base problem, students could not solve a target problem because of the absence of the mathematical knowledge of the target problem which corresponded the mathematical knowledge of the base problem. Third, the various solutions of the base problem helped the students solve the target problem. Fourth, students used an algebraic method to construct a quadratic curve. Fifth, the analysis method and potential similarity helped the students solve the target problem.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.719-743
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• 2013

Proportional reasoning is considered as a difficult concept to most elementary school students and might be connect to functional thinking, algebraic thinking, and mathematical thinking later. The purpose of this study is to analyze the sixth graders' development level of proportional reasoning so that children's problem solving processes on different proportional problem items were investigated in a way how the problem type of proportion and the degree of ill-structured affect to their levels. Results showed that the greater part of participants solved problems on the level of proportional reasoning and various development levels according to type of problem. In addition, they showed highly the level of transition and proportional reasoning on missing value problems rather than numerical comparison problems.