• The Mathematical Education
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.539-557
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• 2022

A research field develops by experiencing several turns of paradigms. Mathematics education research have experienced those turns as well. Still, the dominant perspective is that mathematics education research should be scientific and objective. In this article, I suggest that this need not to be the prime rule to follow and that the mathematics education field will fertile by discussing extraordinary cases which may seem controversal to be recognized as valid research work. To this end, I first briefly describe the necessity of open discussions among researchers for a field to develop. Then, I introduce fiction writing, a resesarch method derived from arts-based research, as an extraordinary case for open discussions. The benefit of Arts-based research is on that it takes an holistic approach to how we know by embracing emotion and emphathy as means for knowing. Because of this trait, arts-based research holds a powerful potential for influencing a wide range of people, both inside and outside of the resesarch field. Following this, I present a fiction about a prospective teacher who participated in an activity for designing educative curriculum materials. By doing so, I sought to provoke discussions among mathematics education researchers about what to include as a valid research work, possible standards for reviewing arts-based resesarch.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.108-121
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• 2024

In this study, we developed a sustainability education program employing a project-based learning strategy for prospective teachers and investigated its effectiveness. A total of 23 senior students from a university of education participated in the study. The investigation involved a pretest on their pro-environmental behavior and attitudes, followed by a five-week implementation of the program, during which students individually engaged in energy-saving projects. Following the program, a post-test, which used the same questionnaire as the pretest, was administered. In addition, we conducted individual interviews with nine students who actively engaged in the projects. We analyzed the interview contents, portfolios, and reports; identified sub-concepts related to the program's effectiveness and its causes; and then organized them into subcategories. Then, we extracted recurring relationships among the subcategories to formulate a tentative explanatory model. The results indicate that the program positively impacted students' pro-environmental behavior and values/attitudes. Notably, the students' "sense of achievement gained through success" emerged as a significant factor influencing their pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, some causes were found to indirectly affect pro-environmental behavior through pro-environmental values and attitudes.