소수 개념의 교수학적 분석

A Didactical Analysis of the Decimal fraction Concept

소수는 십진기수법의 완성을 통해 실수의 표준기호화를 가능하게 하며 실수의 본질을 이해하는데 핵심적 역할을 하는 기본 개념이다. 우리나라 학교수학에서는 소수 개념에 대하여 분수의 다른 이름이라는 측면이 강조되고 그 밖의 중요한 여러 측면이 소홀히 지도된 채 성급한 알고리즘화가 시도되고 있다. 그 결과 학생들은 소수 개념을 적절히 이해하지 못한 채 형식적인 계산 조작의 대상으로 파악하며, 이는 무한소수인 실수 개념 이해의 심각한 장애 요인으로 작용한다는 문제점이 제기된다. 이에 본 논문에서는 학교수학의 주요 개념의 하나인 소수 개념에 대하여 그 교수학적 분석을 시도하여 그 주요한 교육적 문제점의 근원을 드러내고 그 개선방안을 제시하였다.

The decimal fraction concept plays an important role in understanding the real number which is one of the major concepts in school mathematics. In the school mathematics of Korea, the decimal fraction is treated merely as a sort of name of the common fraction, while many other important aspects of the decimal fraction concept are ignored. In consequence students fail to understand the decimal fraction concept properly, and merely consider it as a kind of number for formal computation. Preceding studies also identified students' narrow understanding of the decimal fraction concept. But none of them succeeded in clarifying the essences of the decimal fraction concept, which are crucial for discussing the didactical problems of it. In this study we attempted a didactical analysis of the decimal fraction concept and disclosed the roots of didactical problems and presented measures for its improvement. First, we attempted a phenomenological analysis of the decimal fraction concept and extracted 9 elements of the decimal fraction concept. Second, we has analyzed of the essence of the decimal fraction concept more clearly by relating it to the situations where it functions and its representations. For this we tried to construct the conceptual field of the decimal fraction. Third, we categorized he developmental levels of the decimal fraction concept from the aspect of external manifestation of the internal order. On the basis of these results, we attempted hierarchical structuring of the elements of the decimal fraction concept. And using the results of such a didactical analysis on the decimal number concept we analyzed the mathematics curriculum and textbooks of our country, investigated levels of students' understanding of the decimal fraction concept, and disclosed related problems. Finally we suggested directions and measures for the improvement of teaching decimal fraction concept.