In this study, we analyzed what STEAM-related subject contents, except mathematical knowledge, are contained in 2009 revised elementary mathematics 6th grade textbooks and teacher's manuals. The STEAM-related subject contents in the textbooks and the teacher's manuals were examined by unit, by semester, and by strand of the content in the elementary school mathematics curriculum. The results are the following: First, in each unit and in each strand of mathematics, the most frequent STEAM-related subject content is storytelling, followed by the STEAM-related subject contents of technology and engineering, natural science, and social studies in order. On the other hand, the number of culture, physical education, music and fine arts contents is very small. Second, the number of STEAM-related subject contents in the textbook for the second semester(textbook 6-2) of the 6th grade year is 61 more than that in the textbook for the first semester(textbook 6-1). The number of non-storytelling STEAM-related subject contents in textbook 6-2 is 107, 2.7 times more than that in textbook 6-1. Third, the teacher's manual for textbook 6-1 is insufficient in complementing the textbook units which lack in STEAM-related subject contents, while the teacher's manual for textbook 6-2 is comparatively good in its complementing role. Therefore, it is recommended that we develop different STEAM materials for our 6th grade mathematics classes.
Despite the necessity and significance of mathematical competencies in the 2015 revised mathematics curriculum, there has been lack of studies analyzing textbooks in which such competencies are intended in detail through various tasks. Given this background, this paper analyzed how mathematical competencies and their sub-elements have been represented in the mathematics textbooks for third and fourth grade. The findings of this study showed that 'communication' was the most prevalent mathematical competence, followed by 'reasoning', 'creativity and integration', 'information processing', 'attitude and practice', and 'problem solving' in order. This study also explored the characteristics of mathematical competencies in the textbooks by analyzing which sub-elements per competence were popular. With illustrative examples, this paper is expected to provide for textbook developers with implications on how to represent mathematical competencies throughout the textbooks.
This paper analyzed the topics dealing with three-dimensional figures in most recently revised mathematics textbooks on the basis of the national mathematics curriculum announced in 2007. First, the overall content was analyzed with regard to how textbooks were aligned to the curriculum as well as how the main elements including the definitions of specific solid figures were introduced and developed in different units across grades. Second, the instructional methods of three-dimensional figures were analyzed, which specifically revealed the lack of inquiry phase before introducing cones and pyramids. Third, the instructional methods to foster students' spatial sense with solid figures were analyzed, which showed the increased focus on the prediction and representation of figures. It is expected that the issues and suggestions from this study are informative revising curricular materials and applying them to the classroom.
This research investigated the Revised mathematics curriculum and the National Achievement Test of Japan that advanced by leaps and bounds in PISA 2012. As compared with Korea, Japan shows similar trends in the affective domain and the cognitive domain of international achievement test. To put it concretely, this research compared and analyzed the mathematics contents domain of the 2009 revised mathematics curriculum of Korea and the 2008 revised mathematics curriculum of Japan being applied. The analysis was conducted in many aspects including overall of Japanese mathematics education system, the contents to be covered in each grade, and the methods of essential learning themes. We compared the mathematics contents dealt with each country based on the framework of analysis such as