• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.309-327
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• 2003

In this paper, we deal with the teaching of algebra in the elementary school mathematics, and call this algebra teaching method as ‘early algebra’. Early algebra is appeared in the 1980's with the discussion of ‘algebraic thinking’. And many studies about early algebra is in progress since 1990's. These studies aims at reducing difficulties in the teaching of algebra and the development of algebra curriculum. We investigate the background of early algebra, and justify teaching of early algebra. Also we examine the projects and studies in progress around the world. Finally through these discussions, we compare our elementary textbooks with early algebra, and verify the characters of early algebra from our arithmetic curriculum.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.355-392
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• 2013

Generally school algebra is to start with introducing variables and algebraic expressions, which have major cognitive obstacles to students in the transfer from arithmetic to algebra. But the recent studies in the teaching school algebra argue the algebraic thinking from an early algebraic point of view. We compare the Korean elementary mathematics textbooks with Americans from this perspective. First, we discuss the history of school algebra in the school curriculum. And Second, we investigate the recent studies in relation to early algebra. We clarify the goals of this study(the importance of early algebra in the elementary school) through these discussions. Next we examine closely the number sense in the arithmetic and the symbol sense in the algebra. And we conclude that the operation sense can connect these senses within early algebra using the algebraic thinking. Finally, we compare the elementary mathematics books between Korean and American according to the components of the operation sense. In this comparative study, we identify a possibility of teaching algebraic thinking in the elementary mathematics and early algebra can be introduced to the elementary mathematics textbooks from aspects of the operation sense.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.453-475
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• 2007

School algebra starts with introducing algebraic expressions which have been one of the cognitive obstacles to the students in the transfer from arithmetic to algebra. In the recent studies on the teaching school algebra, algebraic thinking is getting much more attention together with algebraic expressions. In this paper, we examined the processes of the transfer from arithmetic to algebra and ways for teaching early algebra through algebraic thinking factors. Issues about algebraic thinking have continued since 1980's. But the theoretic foundations for algebraic thinking have not been founded in the previous studies. In this paper, we analyzed the algebraic thinking in school algebra from historico-genetic, epistemological, and symbolic-linguistic points of view, and identified algebraic thinking factors, i.e. the principle of permanence of formal laws, the concept of variable, quantitative reasoning, algebraic interpretation - constructing algebraic expressions, trans formational reasoning - changing algebraic expressions, operational senses - operating algebraic expressions, substitution, etc. We also identified these algebraic thinking factors through analyzing mathematics textbooks of elementary and middle school, and showed the middle school students' low achievement relating to these factors through the algebraic thinking ability test. Based upon these analyses, we argued that the readiness for algebra learning should be made through the processes including algebraic thinking factors in the elementary school and that the transfer from arithmetic to algebra should be accomplished naturally through the pre-algebra course. And we searched for alternative ways to improve algebra curriculums, emphasizing algebraic thinking factors. In summary, we identified the problems of school algebra relating to the transfer from arithmetic to algebra with the problem of teaching algebraic thinking and analyzed the algebraic thinking factors of school algebra, and searched for alternative ways for improving the transfer from arithmetic to algebra and the teaching of early algebra.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2004

University teachers of linear algebra often feel annoyed and disarmed when faced with the inability of their students to cope with concepts that they consider to be very simple. Usually, they lay the blame on the impossibility for the students to use geometrical intuition or the lack of practice in basic logic and set theory. J.-L. Dorier [(2002): Teaching Linear Algebra at University. In: T. Li (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians (Beijing: August 20-28, 2002), Vol. III: Invited Lectures (pp. 875-884). Beijing: Higher Education Press] mentioned that the situation could not be improved substantially with the teaching of Cartesian geometry or/and logic and set theory prior to the linear algebra. In East Asian countries, science-orientated mathematics curricula of the high schools consist of calculus with many other materials. To understand differential and integral calculus efficiently or for other reasons, students have to learn a lot of content (and concepts) in linear algebra, such as ordered pairs, n-tuple numbers, planar and spatial coordinates, vectors, polynomials, matrices, etc., from an early age. The content of linear algebra is spread out from grades 7 to 12. When the high school teachers teach the content of linear algebra, however, they do not concern much about the concepts of content. With small effort, teachers can help the students to build concepts of vocabularies and languages of linear algebra.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.275-292
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• 2010

In this study, we discussed the way to teach algebra earlier through investigating to research trends of Early Algebra and researching about nature of subject involving algebra. There is a strong view that arithmetic and algebra have analogous forms and that algebra is on extension to arithmetic. Nevertheless, it is also possible to present a perspective that the fundamental goal and role of symbols and letters are difference between arithmetic and algebra. And, we could recognize that geometry was starting point of algebra trough historical perspectives. To consider these, we extracted some of possible directions to approaches to teach algebra earlier. To access to teaching algebra earlier, following ways are possible. (1) To consider informal strategy of young children. (2) Arithmetic reasoning considered of the algebraic relation. (3) Starting to algebraic reasoning in the context of geometrical problem situation. (4) To present young students to tool of letters and formular.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.29-48
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• 2002

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the transfer in mathematics learning, especially focussing on arithmetic and algebra. There are many obstacles at the stage of transfer in learning. In the case of mathematics, each learning contents are definitely categorized by the learning level, therefore these obstacles are more happened than other subjects. First of all, this paper investigates the historical transfer from arithmetic to algebra by Sfard's perspectives. And we define prealgebra as the stage between arithmetic and algebra, which may be revised obstacles or misconceptions happened in the early algebra learning. Also, this paper discusses various obstacles and concrete examples happened in the transfer from arithmetic to algebra. To advance the understanding in the learning of algebra, we consider the core contents of the algebra learning which should be stressed at the prealgebra stage. Finally we present the teaching units of (pre)algebra which are sequenced from the variable concepts to equations.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.215-233
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• 2008

Deep comprehension of basic mathematical notions and concepts is a basic condition of a successful teaching. Some elements of algebraic thinking belong to the elementary school mathematics. The question "What stays the same and what changes?" link arithmetic problems with algebraic conception of variable. We have studied beliefs and comprehensions of future elementary school mathematics teachers on early algebra. Pre-service teachers from three academic pedagogical colleges deal with mathematical problems from the pre-algebra point of view, with the emphasis on changes and invariants. The idea is that the intensive use of non-formal algebra may help learners to construct a better understanding of fundamental ideas of arithmetic on the strong basis of algebraic thinking. In this article the study concerning arithmetic series is described. Considerable number of pre-service teachers moved from formulas to deep comprehension of the subject. Additionally, there are indications of ability to apply the conception of change and invariance in other mathematical and didactical contexts.

• School Mathematics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.581-598
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• 2011

Given the growing agreement that algebra should be taught in the early stage of the curriculum, considerable studies have been conducted with regard to early algebra in the elementary school. However, there has been lack of research on how to organize mathematic lessons to develop of algebraic reasoning ability of the elementary school students. This research attempted to gain specific and practical information on effective algebraic teaching and learning in the elementary school. An exploratory qualitative case study was conducted to the fourth graders. This paper focused on the associative law of the multiplication. This paper showed what kinds of activities a teacher may organize following three steps: (a) focus on the properties of numbers and operations in specific situations, (b) discovery of the properties of numbers and operations with many examples, and (c) generalization of the properties of numbers and operations in arbitrary situations. Given the steps, this paper included an analysis on how the students developed their algebraic reasoning. This study provides implications on the important factors that lead to the development of algebraic reasoning ability for elementary students.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.213-231
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze the 6th graders' understanding of the concepts of variable on various aspects of school algebra. For this purpose, the test of concepts of variable targeting a sixth-grade class was conducted and then two students were selected for in-depth interview. The level of mathematics achievement of the two students was not significantly different but there were differences between them in terms of understanding about the concepts of variable. The results obtained in this study are as follows: First, the students had little basic understanding of the variables and they had many cognitive difficulties with respect to the variables. Second, the students were familiar with only the symbol '${\Box}$' not the other letters nor symbols. Third, students comprehended the variable as generalizers imperfectly. Fourth, the students' skill of operations between letters was below expectations and there was the student who omitted the mathematical sign in letter expressions including the mathematical sign such as x+3. Fifth, the students lacked the ability to reason the patterns inductively and symbolize them using variables. Sixth, in connection with the variables in functional relationships, the students were more familiar with the potential and discrete variation than practical and continuous variation. On the basis of the results, this study gives several implications related to the early algebra education, especially the teaching methods of variables.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2017

The properties of arithmetic are considered as essential to understand the principles of calculation and develop effective strategies for calculation in the elementary school level, thanks to agreement on early algebra. Therefore elementary students' misunderstanding of the properties of arithmetic might cause learning difficulties as well as misconcepts in their following learning processes. This study aims to provide elementary teachers a part of pedagogical content knowledge about the properties of arithmetic and to induce some didactical implications for teaching the properties of arithmetic in the elementary school level. To do this, elementary school mathematics textbooks since the period of the first curriculum were analyzed. These results from analysis show which properties of arithmetic have been taught, when they were taught, and how they were taught. Based on them, some didactical implications were suggested for desirable teaching of the properties of arithmetic.