• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2004

According to the 7-th curriculum, irrational number should be introduced using repeating decimals in 8-th grade mathematics. To do so, the relation between rational numbers and repeating decimals such that a number is rational number if and only if it can be represented by a repeating decimal, should be examined closely Since this relation lacks clarity in some text books, irrational numbers have only slight relation with repeating decimals in those books. Furthermore, some text books introduce irrational numbers showing that $\sqrt{2}$ is not rational number, which is out of 7-th curriculum. On the other hand, if we use numeral 0 as a repetend, many results related to repeating decimals can be represented concisely. In particular, the treatments of order relation with repeating decimals in 8-th grade text books must be reconsidered.