• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.115-131
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to examine meaning, factors, and diagnostic method of underachievers in mathematics and to propose the idea of the individualized teaching method for underachievers. For the first purpose, previous literatures on underachievers are reviewed. For the second purpose, this study described the procedure of developing the individualized instructional program, and the method of diagnosing and prescribing errors in mathematics. In the future, individualized instructional program need to be developed based on correct diagnosis of factors effecting under achievement for the effective teaching of underachievers.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.229-252
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• 2008

The purpose of this research was to make fair assessment methods which took into account characteristics of mathematically underachievers. The researchers devised an descriptive tests and interviews and applied them to the mathematics underachievers who could not reveal their achievements in the traditional assessment and then analyzed their cognitive and affective characteristics in the alternative assessments. After selecting three students by the normal assessment made of simple subjective and multiple choice questions, the cognitive and affective characteristics found in the general assessment were reflected to the descriptive tests and interviews. The descriptive tests and interviews are comprised of descriptive narrations and informal interview questions. After the assessment, the teacher and students gave feedbacks one another. All the assessment activities were recorded by a camcorder to analyze cognitive and affective characteristics of the children. Throughout the research, the following conclusions were made. The mathematics underachievers showed the characteristics which didn't appeared in the normal assessment. They showed normal abilities of problem solving and communication In the cognitive area. Also they brought in positive result in most parts in the affective area. However, the student B displayed considerable ability of mathematical thinking that is over the average level of mathematical underachievers. This implies that we can definite the mathematical underachievers differently when we use the detailed and relief assessment method instead of the traditional assessment. On the other hand, one student tended to depend on the teacher and another student overheard what the others talk during the study. This defect should be complemented by the further studies about assessment method for the mathematical underachievers. Also appropriate assessment methods should be made for applying to the various mathematical underachievers. Many studies have been concentrated on the learning for mathematical underachievers but there is little concern about the assessment for the mathematical underachievers. However it is the fundamental way to reduce the number of mathematics underachievers that we construct consistent learning methods and assessments for the mathematical underachievers.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.315-335
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• 2008

This study is to recognize importance of casing anxiety on mathematics for underachievers and to examine a plan to solve a problem with anxiety, by analyzing factors which make underachievers anxious on the mathematics. First, we analyze factors which make mathematical underachievers anxious on the mathematics. Second, we compare and analyze a level of anxiety on the mathematics and factors which cause anxiety on the mathematics according to their grade and gender. This study's participants were 308 mathematical underachievers at 4th, 5th, and 6th grade, studying at six different elementary schools in three different areas. The results of factors which make mathematical underachievers anxious on the mathematics obtained from the survey are as follows. First, in the top-category factor, mathematical underachievers are influenced by following factors in order, which are a mathematic subject, learner's attitude, environment, and a teacher. Second, in the factor of making students anxious on the mathematics according tn their grade, although the mathematic anxiety of students at 6th grade is higher than students at 4th and 5th grade, in the anxiety differences between the different grades. Third, in the factors which make the students anxious on the mathematics according to their gender, female students show more anxiety than male students. In summary, an anxiety of the underachievers at the elementary schools are different in the top and sub-category factor, according to their grades and their gender. It is shown that the underachievers feel more anxiety compared to normal elementary schools, and therefore the anxiety on the mathematics is one of the causes of under-achievement of the mathematics.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2001

It is necessary that at any rate we try to decrease underachievers by learning deficiency in mathematics to extreme limits under circumstances that mathematics becomes more requisite daily in the 21st century's informative society. However, the traditional teaching method causes a lot of problems in elevating the needed ability for the newly changing society. Accordingly, for the purpose of letting underachievers by learning deficiency have much interest in mathematics, seek the qualitative elevation, have the feelings of self-confidence and accomplishments, escape from desperation, and also teachers choose the activities of small groups, design teaching plans, apply those to teaching-learning activities and finally verify the effect, this researcher sets up a hypothesis as follows: 1. The teaching method through small groups will be effective for the accomplishments of underachievers in mathematics. 2. Its method will bring out the meaningful change in the emotional areas of mathematics. Therefore, so as to prove the above hypothesis, the results through the theoretical approach and practicing teaming by small groups have turned out to be positive.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.265-283
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• 2013

This research puts the purpose in examining the general trend of mathematics underachievers in the elementary school based on the analysis results of mathematics diagnostic assessment of mathematics underachievers and the recognition of teachers and students. To achieve research questions, this research analyzed the results of diagnostic assessment of mathematics underachievers from the third grade to the sixth grade of two elementary schools, Seoul, carried out in March, 2010. Results were classified according to grades and genders. Each analysis was performed under the standards of frequency and frequency level. Secondly, questionnaires were conducted, and general trend of mathematics underachievers were analyzed. Conclusion based on research results above can be drawn as follows: Firstly, as a result of analyzing the general trend of mathematics underachievers in the elementary school, mathematics underachievers appeared to be accumulated and intensified as their grade is ascended. Therefore, support and encouraging students to experience mathematics positively and successfully from the elementary school is needed. In addition, to prevent the accumulation of learning deficiency, preventive measures should be taken from the lower grades. Secondly, the possibility of accumulating learning deficiency due to the selection method in deciding underachieving only with total scores should not be disregarded. Therefore, since the accumulation of learning deficiency can be worked as a new factor of learning underachieving, the amendment of teaching methods in learning underachieving based on objective data analysis is required. Thirdly, teachers and students recognized that the learner is the main factor of mathematics underachieving. This indicates that mathematics learning difficulty is improved through the education of learners. Therefore, studies on mathematics underachievers should be activated, and the effective education program should be developed.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.187-206
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to know what is the difficulties that mathematics underachievers are suffering from the area of mathematical function and how to overcome this difficulties. For this study, we have selected two mathematics underachievers and carried out the inspection. The mathematics underachievers have undergone the difficulties of understanding mathematical problems, the difficulties from the deficit of prerequisite and basic learning, the difficulties of finding the answer typically and the difficulties of classifying an algebraic symbol, the difficulties of calculating the gradient of the straight line passing through two points.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.347-366
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• 2015

There are a lot of causes of under-achievement in elementary mathematics, one of which may be lack of previous learning elements. We focus on the understanding of place value. The purpose of this study is to analyze underachievers' levels of understanding of place value concepts and to find the types of place value tasks that they have had special difficulty. For this purpose, an individual test called as "the Six Tasks of Place Value(SToPV)"was applied to ten third grade mathematics underachievers in elementary school. The test is a type of place value concept tests and requires one-on-one interview with some preparation materials. The participants' reactions were analysed according to the framework by Berman(2011). The result of analysis shows that third grade mathematics underachievers tend to have a great difficulty understanding the place value concepts. Also the types of difficult tasks were various from individual to individual. Based on the test results and discussion, we suggested some implications for diagnosing place value concepts of mathematics underachievers.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.521-536
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• 2017

One of difficulties with which teachers meet is to have underachievers with no willingness and motivation for study involved in class. Mathematics underachiever are average or above average in their intelligence but their actual achievement in mathematics did not coincide to their intellectual capabilities. The teaching strategy for them is to motivate them to try to study mathematics and to experience the improvement in their mathematics grade. In this paper, we choose flipped classroom as the strategy of teaching basic mathematics to math underachievers and applied it to them. Then we wanted to make sure the possibility for applying flipped classroom to teaching math underachievers through the analysis of change in the scholastic achievement of students in mathematics and mathematical disposition. The results of this study are as followings; First, when we taught basic math to underachievers using a flipped classroom, we confirm that math underachievers with active participation improved scholastic achievements significantly. Second, the flipped classroom was led to positive effects in an affective domain. In particular, it showed the most noticeable change in the area of willingness to math problem-solving and perception about the value of mathematics.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.789-806
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• 2010

As calls for more attention toward social minority group increases in our society recently, in the field of mathematics education more attention toward an issue about mathematics underachievers is being amplified. Thus, the present study is to examine the effects of teaching method considering students' cognitive characteristics on mathematical underachievers' problem solving and mathematical disposition. For this study, 10 fifth graders identified as mathematical underachievers based on the results of the national level diagnosis assessment and school based assessment were voluntarily selected from an elementary school in Seoul. The results of this study found out the fact that students participating in this program improved in terms of an ability both to solve problems in various ways and to explain an process of problem solving using spoken or written language and drawings. In addition, learning environment respecting students' own mathematical ideas seems to positively influence students' attitudes toward mathematics learning and mathematical dispositions. Furthermore, this study pointed out that mathematical underachievers tend to have difficulty in expressing their own mathematical thinking by reason of linguistic limitation. Finally, the findings of this study imply that for effective teaching of mathematics underachievers, these students' own informal experience and knowledge about mathematics as well as their characteristics regarding learning difficulties should be strongly considered.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.243-260
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• 2009

Many students have difficulty studying mathematics because of its unique characteristics and the numbers of underachievers in mathematics are increasing, not decreasing, even though great teaching-learning methods have been provided. The purpose of this research is to examine if instruction using mind-map in mathematical studies has positive effects on achievement and attitudes of underachievers in mathematics. For this, mathematics learning ability test before instruction, survey of attitudes toward mathematics before and after instruction and mathematics learning ability test before and after instruction were performed for 32 underachievers in two classes of first grade in C high school in South Chung cheong Province. The positive effects of instruction using mind-map in mathematical studies on academic achievements and attitudes of underachievers were expected, but results indicate that there is no significant effect. However, results indicate that the use of mind-map in mathematics instruction has positive effects partially on the changes of learning attitudes. Therefore, the characteristics of underachievers in mathematics should be understood first, mind-map according to them should be applied and students should have time to properly perceive and draw mind-map skillfully. In teachers' professional knowledge of mind-map and consideration for students, when follow-up researches and systematic instruction proceed together for a long period time, the desired results can be realized.