• The Mathematical Education
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.157-178
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• 2022

Mathematics teachers' content knowledge is an important asset for effective teaching. To enhance this asset, teacher's knowledge is required to be diagnosed and developed. In this study, we employed problem-posing and problem-solving tasks to diagnose preservice teachers' understanding of fraction multiplication. We recruited 41 elementary preservice teachers who were taking elementary mathematics methods courses in Korea and the United States and gave the tasks in their final exam. The collected data was analyzed in terms of interpreting, understanding, model, and representing of fraction multiplication. The results of the study show that preservice teachers tended to interpret (fraction)×(fraction) more correctly than (whole number)×(fraction). Especially, all US preservice teachers reversed the meanings of the fraction multiplier as well as the whole number multiplicand. In addition, preservice teachers frequently used 'part of part' for posing problems and solving posed problems for (fraction)×(fraction) problems. While preservice teachers preferred to a area model to solve (fraction)×(fraction) problems, many Korean preservice teachers selected a length model for (whole number)×(fraction). Lastly, preservice teachers showed their ability to make a conceptual connection between their models and the process of fraction multiplication. This study provided specific implications for preservice teacher education in relation to the meaning of fraction multiplication, visual representations, and the purposes of using representations.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.109-128
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• 2009

This study aimed to investigate students' learning process by examining their perception process of problem structure and mathematization, and further to suggest an effective teaching and learning of mathematics to improve students' problem-solving ability. Using the qualitative research method, the researcher observed the collaborative learning of two middle school students by providing problem-posing activities of five lessons and interviewed the students during their performance. The results indicated the student with a high achievement tended to make a similar problem and a new problem where a problem structure should be found first, had a flexible approach in changing its variability of the problem because he had advanced algebraic thinking of quantitative reasoning and reversibility in dealing with making a formula, which related to developing creativity. In conclusion, it was observed that the process of problem posing required accurate understanding of problem structures, providing students an opportunity to understand elements and principles of the problem to find the relation of the problem. Teachers may use a strategy of simplifying external structure of the problem and analyzing algebraical thinking necessary to internal structure according to students' level so that students are able to recognize the problem.

• School Mathematics
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.483-494
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• 2002

A Situation-problem, one of the problems in school mathematics, plays a role as the starting point of teaming mathematics. It leads to construct knowledge which is a tool for solving the problems. Whether the problem is a situation-problem or not, it depends upon how to use that problem. Since posing situation-problems is accompanied by prior analysis and planning for teaching in the class, it is a difficult task. This paper focuses on the characteristics of situation-problems and on how their characteristics are realized in the process of classroom instruction. For this purpose, it analyzes the context of classroom instruction to which the 'puzzle problem' model suggested by Brousseau is applied. The model is considered as a typical situation-problem, which aims at proportionality and linearity. In addition, this paper suggests various sources of information that are useful in posing the situation-problems related to the ratio concepts.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.205-221
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• 2019

The study aimed at investigating preservice elementary school teachers' statistical reasoning when they posed survey questions as they engaged in statistical problem solving, and analyzing how their statistical reasoning affect the subsequent stages. 24 groups of sophomore students(80 students) from two education universities conducted statistical problem solving and completed statistical report, and 22 of them were analyzed. As a result, 9 statistical reasoning were shown when preservice teachers posed survey questions. Among them, question clarification oriented reasoning and variability based reasoning were not exclusively focused upon in the previous research. In order to investigate how statistical reasoning in posing survey questions affected subsequent stages, we examined difficulties and issues that preservice teachers had when they engaged in analyses and conclusion stage described in their report. Consequently, preservice teachers' difficulties were related to population relevant reasoning, category level reasoning, standardization reasoning, alignment to question reasoning, and question clarification oriented reasoning. While previous studies did not focus on question posing stage, this study claimed the necessity of emphasizing various statistical reasoning in question posing and importance of teaching and learning method of appropriate statistical reasoning in question posing.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 2002

Fairy-tales give students opportunities to build connections between a problem-solving situation and mathematics as well as to communicate solutions through writing, symbols, and diagrams. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to introduce how to use fairy-tales in elementary mathematics classroom in order to develope student's mathematical concepts and process in terms of the following areas: ⑴ reconstructing literature ⑵ understanding concepts ⑶ problem posing activity. To be useful, mathematics should be taught in contexts that are meaningful and relevant to learners. Therefore using fairy-tales as a vehicle to teach mathematics gives students a chance to develope mathematics understanding in a natural, meaningful way, and to enhance problem posing and problem solving ability. Further, future study will continue to foster how fairy-tales literatures will enhance children's mathematics knowledge and influence on their mathematics performance.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.421-436
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• 2008

Mathematics assessment doesn't mean examining in the traditional sense of written examination. Mathematics assessment has to give the various information of grade and development of students as well as teaching of teachers. To achieve this purpose of assessment, we have to search the methods of assessment. This paper is aimed to develop the open-ended problems that are the alternative to traditional test, apply them to classroom and analyze the result of assessment. 4-types open-ended problems are developed by criteria of development. It is open process problem, open result problem, problem posing problem, open decision problem. 6 grade elementary students who are picked in 2 schools participated in assessment using open-ended problems. Scoring depends on the fluency, flexibility, originality The result are as follows; The rate of fluency is 2.14, The rate of flexibility is 1.30, and The rate of originality is 0.11 Furthermore, the rate of originality is very low. Problem posing problem is the highest in the flexibility and open result problem is the highest in the flexibility. Between general mathematical problem solving ability and fluency, flexibility have the positive correlation. And Pearson correlational coefficient of between general mathematical problem solving ability and fluency is 0.437 and that of between general mathematical problem solving ability and flexibility is 0.573. So I conclude that open ended problems are useful and effective in mathematics assessment.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.51-66
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to analyse the cases of the posed problems while the mathematically gifted students are playing the NIM game. The findings of a qualitative case study have led to the conclusions as follows. Most of all mathematically gifted students in the elementary school are not intend to suggest the solutions of the posed problem unless the teacher or the 'problem is requested. But a higher level of promising children were changing each data components of a problem in a consistent way and restructuring the problems while controlling their cognitive process. This is compared to that a relatively lower level of promising children tends to modify one or two data components instantly without trying to look at the whole structure. And we gave 2 suggestions to teach the mathematically gifted students in the problem posing.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.287-308
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• 2006

In this study, an instrument of mathematical problem solving ability test was considered, and the difference between gifted and regular students in the ability were investigated by the test. The instrument consists of 10 items, and verified its quality due to reliability, validity and discrimination. Participants were 168 regular students and 150 gifted from seventh grade. As a result, not only problem solving but also problem finding and problem posing could be the characteristics of the giftedness.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.379-396
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• 2022

In this paper, we investigate distribution strategies in the Egyptian fraction, and through this, we examine the distribution strategies of (fraction)÷(fraction) and then provide some educational implications. The (natural number)÷(natural number) of the sharing situation has the meaning of 'share' per unit, which can be seen as a situation where the unit ratio is determined. These concepts can also naturally be extended to the case of (fraction)÷(fraction) by some problem posing situations. That is to say, the case of (fraction)÷(fraction) can be deduced the case (natural number)÷(natural number) by the re-statement of the problem.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.565-587
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to analyze the understanding of the meaning of fraction division and fraction division algorithm of elementary mathematical gifted students through the process of problem posing and solving activities. For this goal, students were asked to pose more than two real-world problems with respect to the fraction division of ${\frac{3}{4}}{\div}{\frac{2}{3}}$, and to explain the validity of the operation ${\frac{3}{4}}{\div}{\frac{2}{3}}={\frac{3}{4}}{\times}{\frac{3}{2}}$ in the process of solving the posed problems. As the results, although the gifted students posed more word problems in the 'inverse of multiplication' and 'inverse of a cartesian product' situations compared to the general students and pre-service elementary teachers in the previous researches, most of them also preferred to understanding the meaning of fractional division in the 'measurement division' situation. Handling the fractional division by converting it into the division of natural numbers through reduction to a common denominator in the 'measurement division', they showed the poor understanding of the meaning of multiplication by the reciprocal of divisor in the fraction division algorithm. So we suggest following: First, instruction on fraction division based on various problem situations is necessary. Second, eliciting fractional division algorithm in partitive division situation is strongly recommended for helping students understand the meaning of the reciprocal of divisor. Third, it is necessary to incorporate real-world problem posing tasks into elementary mathematics classroom for fostering mathematical creativity as well as problem solving ability.