• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.379-397
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• 2014

According to Kant, time is integral to all human cognitive experiences. Human beings perceive things in the frame of time. Phenomena are perceived in successive way or in coexistent way. In this paper, I argue that the perspective of temporality and atemporality can be a framework to consider the issues of teaching and understanding of mathematical knowledge. Significance of temporal inquiry of atemporal phenomena is discussed with examples of mathematical expressions and geometric figures. Significance of atemporal inquiry of temporal phenomena is also discussed with examples of the sum of natural numbers, geometric pattern, and the probability of two events. Teachers should understand the potential of mathematical tasks from the perspective of temporality and atemporality and provide students with opportunities to inquire temporal phenomena atemporally and atemporal phenomena temporally.