• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.313-326
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze changes in gender differences of Korean students in PISA mathematics assessment and investigate possible factors influencing the decrease of gender gap in mathematics performances. According to the results of PISA mathematics assessment, Korea showed significant large gender differences in mathematics achievement in both 2000 and 2003. The gender gap in favor of boys, however, has decreased since 2006. An interesting point from these results is that Korean girls' significant improvement led to the decrease in gender difference in 2006 and 2009 assessment. Based on a review of literature on gender differences in mathematics, possible explanations for the girls' improvement in mathematics achievements are identified as follows: the Korean government policy to encourage and support girls' study in mathematics and science and supportive environments could influence positively girls' attitudes toward mathematics and their mathematics learning; the changes in the mathematics curriculum and textbooks which emphasize similar characteristics to PISA mathematics assessment could affect the girls' improvement by reducing their unfamiliarity with PISA mathematics assessment items.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.539-564
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• 2011

This study examined how elementary teachers perceive and use "problem-posing" as a way to improve students' problem-solving skills in their mathematics classrooms. In the study, a total of 193 teachers in metropolitan areas were surveyed and a subset of 4 teachers were selected for depth-interviews. Results of the study included that teachers did not have a clear understanding of the study included that teachers did not have a clear understanding of the intended meaning of "problem-posing" although many of them have heard about the idea itself. Therefore, "problem-posing" was not fully utilized in their mathematics instructional and assessment. It is suggested that there is a need to develop instructional materials and related professional development of teachers for better instruction of problem-posing in the mathematics classroom.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.243-262
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• 2010

CRESST(the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at UCLA) is now carrying out the research, which was scheduled for a five year period from 2007 to 2011. This research aimed at testing the effectiveness of the formative assessment program by continuously conducting the program on the target group and steadily applying the recurring feedback, in order to reform the teachers' teaching and to facilitate students' learning. To do this, CRESST has set out to develop the material for 7th graders since January 2007, and KICE(Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation) have been running a collaborated research since July 2007, while sharing the instructional materials developed by CRESST. In 2008, the pre-test was conducted prior to this study in 2009. Especially, this paper deals with the Korean 7th graders' scholastic achievements in algebra domain measured by PowerSource(c). In addition, this study would examine the responses of teachers and students on its application.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.97-117
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• 2012

Our government has used the result of National Assessment of Educational Achievement(NAEA) with one of data to check and improve the existing curricula and educational policies. The reason to devote these efforts is for the purpose of boosting the students' academic ability. Here, one of works based on the growth of the students' academic ability is to grasp what contents they are vulnerable to. Next work is to improve the methods to teach the appropriate content. So, in this paper I grasped the tendencies of the whole students and male/female students in middle school to appear in the results of 2010, 2011 NAEA. On the basis of those I grasp what contents the whole students and male/female students are vulnerable and I suggest the implications of teaching and learning for those contents.

• School Mathematics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.179-199
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• 2013

In this study we grasp what contents in the mathematics curriculum the students of multicultural and North Korean migrant families are vulnerable to and we would like to provide the bases to devise the appropriate teaching and learning methods for them. In order to this work we used the results of 2011 National Assessment Educational Achievement. We categorized students from multicultural and North Korean migrant families into children from international marriage family (born in country or immigrated), foreign family, and North Korean migrant family and compared each category with the whole students. First, for each school class we analyzed characteristics of academic achievement by ratio of achievement level, means of calibrated score, and percentages of correct answers in NAEA, mean percentages of correct answers by content domains, and percentages of correct answers by items. In addition to these we analysed items qualitatively and investigated study conditions in which the students of multicultural and North Korean migrant families have difficult times. In every subgroup the more ratio of advanced level decreases and ratio of below basic level increases the more school classes go up. Also these phenomena appear differently by each group and by content domain. For this reason by group, the supporting on learning will be needed.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.147-164
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• 2011

The national mathematics curriculum revised in 2007 emphasized students' mathematical communication and the curriculum is currently applied to all grades. In order to promote students' mathematical communication, the teacher needs to understand full implications and apply them to instruction. This study examined how teachers employed mathematical communication in their instruction and how they perceived it. The results showed that teachers had lack of understanding of student-centered instruction and mathematical communication. They also did not use various representation activities and discussion-based activities as expected. The number of students per classroom was reported by teachers as a main barrier to promote mathematical communication, but it did not make substantial differences in practice. Building on the results, this paper included implications for improving teachers' conception of mathematical communication.

• School Mathematics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2011

This study investigated the Chinese national university entrance examination (Gaokao) in mathematics administered in 2009 and 2010 to draw out some implications on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in mathematics of Korea. To evaluate the attainments of basic mathematical skills and multilateral abilities required for further studies in university, the Gaokao mathematics is set in two forms(Art/Science), based on the Chinese national mathematics curriculum. The types of items in the Gaokao mathematics are multiple-choice, single-answer, and write-out-answer. The mathematical abilities that the Gaokao mathematics evaluates are mathematical reasoning, operation, geometrical imagination, application, and creativity. As a result, some implications on the Korean CSAT are drawn out in terms of the level of difficulty, the types of items, the arrangements, and the scores of items.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.221-237
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• 2011

This paper focused on three drawbacks exposed in subject matter related to solid figures in elementary school math textbook. First, general solid figure are introduced before rectangular parallelepiped and cube in fifth grade math textbook, and prism and pyramid in sixth grade math textbook are introduced. Second, the process of abstraction from concrete objects to solid figures is insufficient in sixth grade math textbook. Third, some definitions in subject matter related to solid figures are inconsistent and ambiguous. The following four suggestions can be put forward as a conclusion based on these results. First, subject matter in textbooks must be correspond with that in curriculum. Second, it is necessary to inform teachers of range of subject matter through teachers guide book and manual for curriculum definitely. Third, each grade subject matter in math textbooks must be reexamined. Fourth, regular modification of math textbooks must be possible institutionally.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.475-489
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• 2011

The purposes of this study were to inform the exemplary models of integrated science and mathematics and to analyze and discuss their similarities and differences of the models. There were two steps to select the exemplary models of integrated science and mathematics. First, the second volume (Berlin & Lee, 2003) of the bibliography of integrated science and mathematics was analyzed to identify the models. As a second step, we selected the models that are dealt with in the School Science Mathematics journal and were cited more than three times. The findings showed that the following four exemplary theoretical models were identified and published in the SSM journal: the Berlin-White Integrated Science and Mathematics (BWISM) Model, the Mathematics/Science Continuum Model, the Continuum Model of Integration, and the Five Types of Science and Mathematics Integration. The Berlin-White Integrated Science and Mathematics (BWISM) Model focused an interpretive or framework theory for integrated science and mathematics teaching and learning. BWISM focused on a conceptual base and a common language for integrated science and mathematics teaching and learning. The Mathematics/Science Continuum Model provided five categories and ways to clarify the extent of overlap or coordination between science and mathematics during instructional practice. The Continuum Model of Integration included five categories and clarified the nature of the relationship between the mathematics and science being taught and the curricular goals for the disciplines. These five types of science and mathematics integrations described the method, type, and instructional implications of five different approaches to integration. The five categories focused on clarifying various forms of integrated science and mathematics education. Several differences and similarities among the models were identified on the basis of the analysis of the content and characteristics of the models. Theoretically, there is strong support for the integration of science and mathematics education as a way to enhance science and mathematics learning experiences. It is expected that these instructional models for integration of science and mathematics could be used to develop and evaluate integration programs and to disseminate integration approaches to curriculum and instruction.

• School Mathematics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.697-716
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• 2011

It is known that Korean students performs very well in mathematics but show poor attitude toward mathematics. However, attitude itself is an important goal of education and it also promotes students learning. Therefore, it is important and urgent for us to find a way to improve students' attitude toward mathematics. In this article, we tried to examine characteristics of Korean students' attitude toward mathematics and identify student and school level factors affecting it. For this purpose, we analysed National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) data in 2007 when NAEA was conducted especially focused on mathematics. Main findings of this research are as follows. First, we found that attitude toward mathematics got lower as students advanced to higher grades. And among 3 sub-domains of attitude toward mathematics, interest and self-confidence were lower than perception of value of mathematics. Secondly, attitude toward mathematics was mainly affected by student background variables such as gender, achievement, participation in private tutoring, father's education level. And while school factors contributed relatively little to students' attitude toward mathematics, teacher's perception on value of school education was positively related with students' attitude in high schools and emphasis on assessment was negatively related with students' attitude in elementary schools.