• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.139-151
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• 2006

This study was conducted to examine the effects of mathematical activities with online mathematical contents on children's arithmetic development and attitudes toward mathematical activities. Pre- and post-tests were administered to 62 5-year-old children. Differences of children's arithmetic development level and attitudes toward mathematical activities were found between the experimental group using online mathematical contents and the control group using offline mathematical contents. All findings proved that online mathematical contents were effective and had positive influences on children's arithmetic development and attitudes toward mathematical activities. This supports the proposition that online mathematical contents can provide an important means to the improvement of children's mathematical development and attitudes toward mathematical activities.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.311-331
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to analyze mathematical errors and the effects of reflective problem posing activities on students' mathematical problem solving abilities and attitudes toward mathematics. We chose two 5th grade groups (experimental and control groups) to conduct this research. From the results of this study, we obtained the following conclusions. First, reflective problem posing activities are effective in improving students' problem solving abilities. Students could use extended capability of selecting a condition to address the problem to others in the activities. Second, reflective problem posing activities can improve students' mathematical willpower and promotes reflective thinking. Reflective problem posing activities were conducted before and after the six areas of mathematics. Also, we examined students' mathematical attitudes of both the experimental group and the control group about self-confidence, flexibility, willpower, curiosity, mathematical reflection, and mathematical value. In the reflective problem posing group, students showed self check on their problems solving activities and participated in mathematical discussions to communicate with others while participating mathematical problem posing activities. We suggested that reflective problem posing activities should be included in the development of mathematics curriculum and textbooks.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.137-156
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to better understand the tendencies and general distributive features of mathematical educational activities which are presented in the Nuri Curriculum Teaching Guidebooks. This was done by analysis of 628 mathematical activities suggested in those guidebooks, the total number of which was thirty-two. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, the number of activities for mathematical education was 204 for the age of three, 223 for the age of four, and 201 for the age of five. Second, these mathematical educational activities are aimed mainly for developing positive attitudes toward mathematics rather than the delivery of mathematical knowledge and skills. Third, the number of activities for developing mathematical inquiry skills was greater than that of activities for developing of inquiry attitudes. Furthermore, the characteristic of understanding the basic concepts of space and figures can be found most frequently in five kinds of activities for mathematical inquiry. Last, the activities for mathematical education are more frequently found in free choice activities rather than group activities. The results of this study also suggest that checking the current status of mathematical education for young children and the Nuri Curriculum Teaching Guidebooks can be utilized for creating teachers' manuals.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.249-262
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• 2010

Large Midwest university faculty members proposed the Science and Technology Enhancement Program Project (STEP) to improve students' learning in the secondary mathematics classroom using modules of inquiry-based teaching. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the STEP Project on students' attitude toward mathematics. Hierarchical linear models (HLM) were used to evaluate the impact of the STEP Project. The sample group for the study was 130 ninth grade students enrolled in Integrated Algebra I in a large urban school district. The school was one of eight secondary schools that participated in the STEP Project. The classes in the treatment group were three of five classes ordered in terms of the highest, middle, and lowest mean GPA. The control group consisted of two other middle GPA classes. The classes had an average of 25 students. Teachers who previously had been involved in the STEP Project taught all treatment and control classes. The inquiry-based teaching activities provided by the project were confined to the treatment classes. The survey measuring students' attitudes toward mathematics were obtained for both groups of students. The inquiry-based teaching affected students' attitudes toward mathematics (p < 0.07, ES = 3.07). Especially, students who had preexisting low attitudes toward mathematics were significantly affected by treatment (p < 0.02, ES = 0.02), while the treatment positively affected African American students overall at p < 0.08 (ES = 0.58).

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.211-230
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using the play with multiplication activities based on Skemp's theory for mathematics achievements and attitudes toward mathematics of elementary school students. For this study, we rearranged Skemp's play activities according to our curriculum in the area of multiplication and applied them to the 2nd grade classes of an elementary school. The plays with multiplication activities were applied to the experimental group while traditional teaching method was used with the current mathematics textbook for the comparative group. We obtained the following conclusions: First, in terms of mathematics achievement, the experimental group who used the plays with multiplication activities based on Skemp's theory didn't show significant difference with the comparative group. Second, it proved that the plays with multiplication activities based on Skemp's theory was more effective for lower level of students than the higher level of students. Third, the plays with multiplication activities based on Skemp's theory have positive effects on improving students' attitudes toward mathematics. We need to use the plays with multiplication activities based on Skemp's theory in the classrooms and find problems with the applying the activities. In addition, we need to develop a more various activities based on Skemp's theory for a better teaching.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.863-885
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• 2009

In the era of wireless internet, we are apt to use a mobile phone for learning mathematics, besides the pc computer and the notebook computer. This study was to investigate the effect of M-learning when students were given a wireless mobile phone in terms of their perspectives towards the use of a mobile phone, achievement and attitudes towards mathematics. They were the 3th grader in a high school, who were expected to take Aptitude Test for the entrance of the university level. The most students who took an ubiquitous environment of M-learning showed it as a benefit for learning mathematics and did not spend time at other activities such as listening to music, sending text-message, playing games, etc, but at the M-learning activities. The students who engaged in the M-learning activities were improved a significantly higher score at Aptitude Test than the students who took the make-up courses in the school and also did a significantly higher disposition towards mathematics which was caused by curiosity among 7 components of the mathematical disposition.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.85-108
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• 2009

The purposes of the study were to develop instructional materials based on Freudenthal's guided reinvention principle for teaching proofs and to investigate how the teaching method based on guided reinvention principle affects on 8th grade students' ability to write proofs and learning attitude toward proofs. Teaching based on guided reinvention principle placed emphasis on providing students opportunities to make a mathematical statement and prove the statement by themselves throughout various activities such as exploring, conjecturing, and testing the conjectures. The study found that students who studied proving with instructional materials developed by guided reinvention principle showed statistically higher mean scores on the posttest than students who studied by a traditional teaching method depending onteacher's explanation. Especially, on the posttest item which requested to prove a whole statement without presenting a picture corresponding to the statement, a big difference among students' responses was found. Many more students in the traditional group did not provide any response on the item. According to the results of the questionnaire regarding students' learning attitudes, the group who studied proving by guided reinvention principle indicated relatively more positive attitudes toward learning proofs than the counterparts.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.865-884
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• 2010

The purpose of this research was to analyze the characteristics of teachers' questionings in the geometry field and suggest the characteristics of teacher questioning to enhance students' mathematical creativity. Teacher questioning plays a role to students' mathematical achievements, mathematical thinking, and their attitudes toward mathematics. However, there has been little research on the roles of teacher questioning on students' mathematical creativity. In this research, researchers analyzed teachers' questions concerning the concepts of triangles in the geometric areas of 4th grade Korean revised 2007 mathematics textbooks. We also analyzed teachers' questionings in the three lessons provided by the Jeju Educational Internet Broadcasting System. We classified and analyzed teachers' questionings by the sub-factors of creativity. The results showed that the teachers did not use the questionings that appropriately enhances students' mathematical creativity. We suggested that teachers need to be prepared to ask questions such as stimulating students' various mathematical thinking, encouraging many possible responses, and not responding with yes/no. Instead, teachers need to encourage students to explain the reasons of their responses and to take part in learning activities with interest.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.187-201
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using process-based writing poems in the elementary mathematics classrooms. For this study, we chose 128 elementary school students to examine their mathematical achievements and attitude towards mathematics when using process-centered writing poems in the elementary mathematics classrooms. Process-based mathematics and writing programs developed mainly on the geometry units were composed of four levels, idea generation, idea selection, use and idea organization grouped into similar sections in order to separate into two sections. The results of the practice of this study's problem can be summarized as follows. First, the process-based mathematics and writing activity of geometry had a positive impact on academic achievement in mathematics. Although there was not a significant difference in the fourth and fifth grades, significant differences in the fifth and sixth grade were found. Second, in regards to attitudes in mathematics, process-based mathematics and writing activities had a positive impact. In particular, the improvement of mathematical attitudes was evident in all grades. It confirmed the effective facilitation of interest and enjoyment towards learning mathematics by 4th, 5th and 6th graders who had undertaken these mathematics classes.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.123-145
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• 2013

This study was expected to yield the meaningful conclusions from the experimental group who took lessons based on inductive activities using GeoGebra at the beginning of proof learning and the comparison one who took traditional expository lessons based on deductive activities. The purpose of this study is to give some helpful suggestions for teaching proof to mathematically gifted elementary students. To attain the purpose, two research questions are established as follows. 1. Is there a significant difference in proof abilities between the experimental group who took inductive lessons using GeoGebra and comparison one who took traditional expository lessons? 2. Is there a significant difference in proof attitudes between the experimental group who took inductive lessons using GeoGebra and comparison one who took traditional expository lessons? To solve the above two research questions, they were divided into two groups, an experimental group of 10 students and a comparison group of 10 students, considering the results of gift and aptitude test, and the computer literacy among 20 elementary students that took lessons at some education institute for the gifted students located in K province after being selected in the mathematics. Special lesson based on the researcher's own lesson plan was treated to the experimental group while explanation-centered class based on the usual 8th grader's textbook was put into the comparison one. Four kinds of tests were used such as previous proof ability test, previous proof attitude test, subsequent proof ability test, and subsequent proof attitude test. One questionnaire survey was used only for experimental group. In the case of attitude toward proof test, the score of questions was calculated by 5-point Likert scale, and in the case of proof ability test was calculated by proper rating standard. The analysis of materials were performed with t-test using the SPSS V.18 statistical program. The following results have been drawn. First, experimental group who took proof lessons of inductive activities using GeoGebra as precedent activity before proving had better achievement in proof ability than the comparison group who took traditional proof lessons. Second, experimental group who took proof lessons of inductive activities using GeoGebra as precedent activity before proving had better achievement in the belief and attitude toward proof than the comparison group who took traditional proof lessons. Third, the survey about 'the effect of inductive activities using GeoGebra on the proof' shows that 100% of the students said that the activities were helpful for proof learning and that 60% of the reasons were 'because GeoGebra can help verify processes visually'. That means it gives positive effects on proof learning that students research constant character and make proposition by themselves justifying assumption and conclusion by changing figures through the function of estimation and drag in investigative software GeoGebra. In conclusion, this study may provide helpful suggestions in improving geometry education, through leading students to learn positive and active proof, connecting the learning processes such as induction based on activity using GeoGebra, simple deduction from induction(i.e. creating a proposition to distinguish between assumptions and conclusions), and formal deduction(i.e. proving).