• The Mathematical Education
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.235-263
• /
• 2009

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of children's understanding of fractions in mathematics problem solving. Kieren has claimed that the concept of fractions is not a single construct, but consists of several interrelated subconstructs(i.e., part-whole, ratio, operator, quotient and measure). Later on, in the early 1980s, Behr et al. built on Kieren's conceptualization and suggested a theoretical model linking the five subconstructs of fractions to the operations of fractions, fraction equivalence and problem solving. In the present study we utilized this theoretical model as a reference to investigate children's understanding of fractions. The case study has been conducted with 6 children consisted of 4th to 5th graders to detect how they understand factions, and how their understanding influence problem solving of subconstructs, operations of fractions and equivalence. Children's understanding of fractions was categorized into "part-whole", "ratio", "operator", "quotient", "measure" and "result of operations". Most children solved the problems based on their conceptual structure of fractions. However, we could not find the particular relationships between children's understanding of fractions and fraction operations or fraction equivalence, while children's understanding of fractions significantly influences their solutions to the problems of five subconstructs of fractions. We suggested that the focus of teaching should be on the concept of fractions and the meaning of each operations of fractions rather than computational algorithm of fractions.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.745-757
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study was to explore status of mathematical interactions between parent and child and use of mathematical materials at home. For this purpose, questionnaires were developed. The framework of the questionnaires consisted of mathematics education content domains. 276 parents(4-5 year old children) in J Province responded to the questionnaires, which were analyzed according to the level of home income, the mother's work conditions and the mother's level of education. The results were as follows: First, between parent and child mathematical interaction at home showed a 2.84 score in average and frequency of mathematical interaction expressed in the domains of 'Understanding of regularity', 'Measurement', 'Growing number sense', 'Space and shapes', 'Organizing data and showing results'. The domains of 'Growing number sense', 'space and shapes', and 'measurement' showed significant difference only by mother's level of education. The higher the mother's level of education, the more frequent the mathematical interaction between parent and child. Second, the use of mathematical materials showed an average score of 1.18, which means mathematical materials were practically not used at home. Also, the use of mathematical materials showed a slightly significant difference when measures against the levels of home income and the mother's level of education. The results showed a significant difference in parent-child mathematical interactions, and the possession and use of mathematical materials when measures against by level of home income and the mother's work conditions. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that the parent education program for mathematical interaction to apply at home and mathematics curriculum to be connected early in childhood education institution and home should be developed for parents.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.407-419
• /
• 2013

In current knowledge-based society, development and growth of IT-related industry is essential for a nation's competitiveness since it's economic power depends on IT industry in many countries. A success of IT industry depends on a few IT geniuses like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Thus, it is necessary to identify and foster gifted children in IT as early as possible. The purpose of this paper is to identify the correlation of academic performance per subject for the gifted children in IT. The analysis is focused on three subjects, that is, Information, Science, and Mathematics, respectively. For this purpose, the gifted children are selected and analyzed in a gifted science education center attached in a university at Seoul Metropolitan Area. The analysis results show that there is meaningful correlation among three subjects. That is, if high scores in a subject means high scores in other subjects. For instance, a gifted child with high scores in Information got high scores in Science and Mathematics. The result will be useful to improve selection examinations and curriculum for gifted education in IT, for inclusive education and convergent education.

• Research in Mathematical Education
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.163-181
• /
• 1998

The paper deals with some aspects of early childhood geometry in the Czech Republic. Children's first geometrical experiences come from real life. In our opinion, there exist four types of geometrical experience which can be called the partition of space, the filling of space motion in space and the dimension of space. We distinguish three levels of the mathematical learning process: a spontaneous level, an operational level and a theoretical level.

• Research in Mathematical Education
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.163-181
• /
• 1997

The paper deals with some aspects of early childhood geometry in the Czech Republic. Children's first geometrical experiences come from real life. In our opinion, there exist four types of geometrical experience which can be called the partition of space, the filling of space motion in space and the dimension of space. We distinguish three levels of the mathematical learning process: a spontaneous level, an operational level and a theoretical level.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.109-125
• /
• 2009

This study examined the effects of estimation activities on children's operation and measurement abilities. Subjects were 60 five-year-old children. This experiment used the untreated control group design with pretest and posttest. Instruments used to collect data were the Number and Operation and Measurement tests part of the Test of Mathematics Ability for Young Children (TMAYC) developed by Hong, Lee and Chung (2006). ANCOVA was employed for statistical analysis. Results of the posttest showed that children in the experimental group scored significantly higher on children's operation and measurement abilities than the control group. Results imply that an estimation program can be an effective teaching model for improving children's operation and measurement abilities.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.453-468
• /
• 2016

This study is a result of experiment to recognize geometric and spacial conceptions for early childhood. This researcher had built up Mandala figures which was an intermediary between consciousness and unconsciousness, and then have studied about early childhood's geometric and spatial concepts by using Mandala figures. In this paper, authors have studied fractal art activities of early childhood as a follow-up study, since the structure of fractal art is similar to Mandala. As a result, three years old young children have significant correlation in four areas(figure perception, visual discrimination, position-in space perception and visual memory), but five years old young children have significant in three areas(figure perception, position-in space perception and visual memory). For five years old group, there is some difference between boys and girls, also they had described for their art activities like real models.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.46 no.9
• /
• pp.125-135
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of young children's age and information processing style in understanding spatial coordinates. For sampling the subjects of this study, Korean version K-ABC Intelligence Test(Moon, Soo-Back, 1997)was conducted with 165 children aged 5-6 who were attending I and G kindergarten in D city. From this pool 30 children who possessed sequential processing style and 30 children who possessed simultaneous processing style were sampled. In order to analyze the understanding of spatial coordinates, a test tool was formulated according to methodology of Blades & Spencer(1989) which was modified. Acquired data was subjected to descriptive and comparative statistical analysis. The following conclusions were arrived at: Firstly, there was significant difference between 5-year-olds and 6-year-olds in understanding spatial coordinates. The 6-year-old group got statistically higher grades than the 5-year-old group in locating a point on the coordinate plane and reading the coordinate numbers. Secondly, there was significant difference between children's information processing style in understanding spatial coordinate. Children with high simultaneous-low sequential processing showed higher performance in locating a point on the coordinate plane and reading coordinate numbers than children with high sequential-low simultaneous processing. Thirdly, after verifying statistical significance of interactivity between young children's age and children's processing strength, there was significant interactive effects in both tasks.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.1-15
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study is to inquire into the theoretical background of music therapy interventions for the improvement of mathematical concepts among young children with special needs. The researcher provides a basis of theoretical background about musical activities as an effective tool for young children to understand and promote their mathematical concepts, and the necessity of practical application in the field of mathematics education is suggested. Music, as a multi-sensory modality, has an ability to hold and maintain one's attention, and can be used as a memory aid and a powerful and effective motivator and reinforcer for young children. Therefore, musical activities can be used to facilitate mathematical concepts in the field of education for young children. Possible musical activities for promoting mathematical development are suggested, and the necessity for developing various musical activities is discussed.

• School Mathematics
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.723-742
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this study was to analyze children's proportional reasoning process on an ill-structured "architectural drawing" problem solving and to investigate their level and characteristics of proportional reasoning. As results, they showed various perspective and several level of proportional reasoning such as illogical, additive, multiplicative, and functional approach. Furthermore, they showed their expanded proportional reasoning from the early stage of perception of various types of quantities and their proportional relation in the problem to application stage of their expanded and generalized relation. Students should be encouraged to develop proportional reasoning by experiencing various quantity in ration and proportion situations.