• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.297-311
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• 2013

The mainstream approaches to understand the characteristics of North Korean mathematics education focus on the comparative studies between South and North Korean mathematics curriculum and textbooks through literature analysis. These approaches make it possible to understand what is taught in mathematics class of North Korean school. But it is hard to find any information on how teachers teach mathematics and how students learn it. This study searches North Korean class environment, preparation for class, teaching and learning methods to understand mathematics class in North Korea as they really are. It is extremely difficult to make first-hand observations on North Korean class. Instead, this paper adopted interviews with teachers who have experience of teaching in North Korean school and now live in South Korea. By doing this, it is possible to get some understanding, although somewhat limited, the real aspects of North Korean mathematics class. As a result, there are distinct differences in the characteristics of North Korean mathematics class environment, preparation for class, teaching and learning methods, compared with South Korean.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-80
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• 2012

This study was designed to find the characteristics of mathematical errors and discourse in simultaneous equations and inequalities for migrant students from North Korea. 5 sample students participated, who attended in an alternative school for the migrant students from North Korea at the study in Seoul, Korea. A total of 8 lesson units were performed as an extra curriculum activity once a week during the 1st semester, 2011. The results indicated that students showed technical errors, encoding errors, misunderstood symbols, misinterpreted language, and misunderstood Chines characters of Koreans and the discourse levels improved from the zero level to the third level, but the scenes of the third level did not constantly happen. Nevertheless, the components of discourse, explanation & justification, were activated and as a result, evaluation & elaboration increased in ERE pattern on communication.

• School Mathematics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.179-199
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• 2013

In this study we grasp what contents in the mathematics curriculum the students of multicultural and North Korean migrant families are vulnerable to and we would like to provide the bases to devise the appropriate teaching and learning methods for them. In order to this work we used the results of 2011 National Assessment Educational Achievement. We categorized students from multicultural and North Korean migrant families into children from international marriage family (born in country or immigrated), foreign family, and North Korean migrant family and compared each category with the whole students. First, for each school class we analyzed characteristics of academic achievement by ratio of achievement level, means of calibrated score, and percentages of correct answers in NAEA, mean percentages of correct answers by content domains, and percentages of correct answers by items. In addition to these we analysed items qualitatively and investigated study conditions in which the students of multicultural and North Korean migrant families have difficult times. In every subgroup the more ratio of advanced level decreases and ratio of below basic level increases the more school classes go up. Also these phenomena appear differently by each group and by content domain. For this reason by group, the supporting on learning will be needed.