• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.395-418
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of mathematical tasks on mathematical communication. Mathematical tasks were classified into four different levels according to cognitive demands, such as memorization, procedure, concept, and exploration. For this study, 24 students were selected from the 5th grade of an elementary school located in Seoul. They were randomly assigned into six groups to control the effects of extraneous variables on the main study. Mathematical tasks for this study were developed on the basis of cognitive demands and then two different tasks were randomly assigned to each group. Before the experiment began, students were trained for effective communication for two months. All the procedures of students' learning were videotaped and transcripted. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to analyze the data. The findings of this study point out that the levels of mathematical tasks were positively correlated to students' participation in mathematical communication, meaning that tasks with higher cognitive demands tend to promote students' active participation in communication with inquiry-based questions. Secondly, the result of this study indicated that the level of students' mathematical justification was influenced by mathematical tasks. That is, the forms of justification changed toward mathematical logic from authorities such as textbooks or teachers according to the levels of tasks. Thirdly, it found out that tasks with higher cognitive demands promoted various negotiation processes. The results of this study implies that cognitively complex tasks should be offered in the classroom to promote students' active mathematical communication, various mathematical tasks and the diverse teaching models should be developed, and teacher education should be enhanced to improve teachers' awareness of mathematical tasks.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.193-213
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• 2016

This study has two goals. The First is to develop and apply a step-by-step program and the degree to which students' mathematical skills. The second is to analyze mathematical attitude change around the first grade students was done. The program for learning complement number is composed of series of 5 steps and 11 classes. Play for learning complement number, taking into account the difficulty of the learning steps 1-5 are organized. First step is composed of the classes which fragmented pieces of shapes to complete the entire geometry with fun activities for the entire part of the concept of learning and it maintenance concepts and can naturally learn by associating step. In second step, tools to take advantage of the real world and collecting the conservative concept. 3rd steps is to repair the mathematical concept of the parish in the learning stage of expansion. 4th step is halrigalri, number cards, making ten games etc. 5th step is to verify the concept of complement number and number operation ability. The concept of complement number through fun activities can improve students' mathematical skills, and mathematical attitude change. Early in the program, students use the finger to throw acid in the process. Simple addition and subtraction calculations may take a long time and error, but more and more we progress through the program using the fingers is eliminated and a more complex form calculations was not difficult to act out.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.199-219
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• 2011

In this thesis, we designed a experimental learning-teaching plan of 'decimal fraction concept' at the 4-th grade level. We rest our plan on two basic premises. One is the fact that a essential concept of decimal fraction is 'polynomial of which indeterminate is 10', and another is the fact that the origin of decimal fraction is successive measurement activities which improving accuracy through decimal partition of measuring unit. The main features of our experimental learning-teaching plan is as follows. Firstly, students can experience a operation which generate decimal unit system through decimal partitioning of measuring unit. Secondly, the decimal fraction expansion will be initially introduced and the complete representation of decimal fraction according to positional notation will follow. Thirdly, such various interpretations of decimal fraction as 3.751m, 3m+7dm+5cm+1mm, $(3+\frac{7}{10}+\frac{5}{100}+\frac{1}{1000})m$ and $\frac{3751}{1000}m$ will be handled. Fourthly, decimal fraction will not be introduced with 'unit decimal fraction' such as 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, ${\cdots}$ but with 'natural number+decimal fraction' such as 2.345. Fifthly, we arranged a numeration activity ruled by random unit system previous to formal representation ruled by decimal positional notation. A experimental learning-teaching plan which presented in this thesis must be examined through teaching experiment. It is necessary to successive research for this task.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.723-744
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to find the effects of open-ended problems on mathematical creativity and brain function. In this study, one class of first grade students were allocated randomly into two groups. Each group solved different problems. The experimental group solved the open-ended problems and the comparison group solved the closed-problems. Mathematical creativity was tested by the paper test. And Brain function was tested by an EEG(electroencephalogram) tester. The results of this study are as follows. Firstly, this study analyzed how the open-ended problems are effective on mathematical creativity. This analysis showed that it had a meaningful influence on the mathematical creativity(p=0.46). Accordingly, we could find out that open-ended problems make the student connect the mathematical concept and idea and think variously. Secondly, this study analyzed the effect of open-ended problems on brain function. This analysis showed that it did not have a meaningful influence on the brain function(p=.073) statistically but the experimental group's evaluation was higher than comparison groups' at the post-test. It also had a meaningful influence on the brain attention quotient(left) (p=.007), attention quotient(right) (p=.023) and emotion tendency quotient(p=.025). As a result of such tests, we could find out that open-ended problems are effective on brain function, especially on the attention ability. With the use of the open-ended problems, students could show quick understanding and response. An emotion tendency is also developed in the process. Because various answers are accepted, the students gain an internal reward at the process of finding an answer. Putting the above results together, we could find that open-ended problem is effective on mathematical creativity and brain function.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.351-370
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to analyze the modes of visualization which appears in the process of thinking that mathematically gifted 6th grade students get to understand components of the three-dimensional shapes on the duality of regular polyhedrons, find the duality relation between the relations of such components, and further explore on whether such duality relation comes into existence in other regular polyhedrons. The results identified in this study are as follows: First, as components required for the process of exploring the duality relation of polyhedrons, there exist primary elements such as the number of faces, the number of vertexes, and the number of edges, and secondary elements such as the number of vertexes gathered at the same face and the number of faces gathered at the same vertex. Second, when exploring the duality relation of regular polyhedrons, mathematically gifted students solved the problems by using various modes of spatial visualization. They tried mainly to use visual distinction, dimension conversion, figure-background perception, position perception, ability to create a new thing, pattern transformation, and rearrangement. In this study, by investigating students' reactions which can appear in the process of exploring geometry problems and analyzing such reactions in conjunction with modes of visualization, modes of spatial visualization which are frequently used by a majority of students have been investigated and reactions relating to spatial visualization that a few students creatively used have been examined. Through such various reactions, the students' thinking in exploring three dimensional shapes could be understood.

• School Mathematics
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.317-333
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine the thinking characteristics of mathematically gifted elementary school students in the process of modified prize-sharing problem solving and each student's thinking changes in the middle of discussion. To determine the relevance of the research task, 19 sixth graders enrolled in a local joint gifted class received instruction, and then 49 students took lessons. Out of them, 19 students attended a gifted education institution affiliated to local educational authorities, and 15 were in their fourth to sixth grades at a beginner's class in a science gifted education center affiliated to a university. 15 were in their fifth and sixth grades at an enrichment class in the same center. Two or three students who seemed to be highly attentive and express themselves clearly were selected from each group. Their behavioral and teaming characteristics were checked, and then an intensive observational case study was conducted with the help of an assistant researcher by videotaping their classes and having an interview. As a result of analyzing their thinking in the course of solving the modified prize-sharing problem, there were common denominators and differences among the student groups investigated, and each student was very distinctive in terms of problem-solving process and thinking level as well.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.575-598
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• 2017

This study aims to explore the level-specific characteristics of arithmetical thinking based on the arithmetical thinking factors and develop an arithmetical thinking level test that can identify students' arithmetical thinking levels by specifying the levels of arithmetical thinking based on the factors. In order to solve the research problems, we categorized the arithmetical thinking factors into 1~4 levels based on the literature review and constructed items of the arithmetical thinking level test considering both content and process based on the arithmetical thinking factors and the level-specific characteristics of the arithmetical thinking which conformed to the Guttman scale. To investigate the adequacy of the analysis of the arithmetical thinking levels, we reanalyzed the level-specific characteristics of the arithmetical thinking by checking that it matched the factors classified to the test developed by the Guttman scale. From the results of this research, the following conclusions were drawn. First, the arithmetical thinking factors are categorized into four levels which have different characteristics. Second, the arithmetical thinking level test of this study was developed satisfying the Guttman scale and it reflects the level-specific characteristics of the arithmetical thinking levels from 1 to 4. It is possible to determine the students' arithmetical thinking level using this test. Third, according to the results of the final application of the arithmetical thinking level test for 5th and 6th graders, teachers should provide more abundant learning experiences related to the relation level (the level 3) and the application level (the level 4) to increase students' arithmetical thinking level.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.559-577
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of discourse-based math instructions on the students' mathematical attitudes and learning achievements by providing fifth graders with an opportunity to take active part in learning during math classes and applying discourse-based math instructions, which are to expand the speaking experiences as the most fundamental way to express ideas in communication. Those research efforts led to the following results: First, the discourse-based math instructions turned out to have positive influences on flexibility, will power, curiosity, reflection, and value of mathematical attitudes. When the results were reviewed before and after the instructions without considering the subvariables of attitude, there were statistically significant differences(p<0.01), which indicates that the discourse-based math instructions exerted very positive effects on the students mathematical attitudes. Second, there were no statistically significant effects in learning achievements between the experimental and comparative group, but the experimental group, which recorded low mean scores in the pre-test, increased their mean scores by 3.81 points in the post-test, which suggests that the discourse-based math instructions had positive influences on them. Third, the subjects' responses on the questionnaire on discourse-based instructions reveal that the discourse-based math instructional provided them with an opportunity to explore solutions in various ways. In short, discourse-based math instructions have positive influences on mathematical attitudes and are effective in increasing communication ability.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.459-474
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mathematical instruction using GSP program on the symmetrical figures learning and self-directed learning attitude. According to the pretest result, the experiment group and the comparison group showed to be homogeneous groups. The experiment group has learned symmetrical figures for 9 hours using the GSP program and the comparison group has learned for 9 hours using the traditional method(paper and pen lesson). As the posttests, self-directed learning attitude test and symmetry figure understanding test were performed. The results obtained in this research are as follows; First, there was a significant difference in symmetry figure understanding test between the experiment group which learned through GSP program and the comparison group which learned through traditional method. Since there showed a very high achievement in the experiment group which learned using GSP, it can be inferred that GSP was very effective in the lessons of symmetrical movements. Second, there was a significant difference in self-directed learning attitude test between the experiment group and the comparison group. This seems to be because the length of the sides of the figures, size of the angles of the figures etc can be verified instantly and the students can correct by themselves and give feedbacks when they use GSP program. Students preferred drawing using the GSP over drawing using rulers and pencils, and they showed interest in the GSP program and they did not have burden in being wrong in their study and studied in various methods. And as they become familiar with the GSP program, they even studied other contents beyond the scope presented in the textbook.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.445-459
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to provide a method to help elementary school students learn ratio-related concepts effectively through visual representations. This study was conducted to identify the differences in the composition of ratio-related concepts between Korean and Singaporean textbooks, reconstruct a unit of proportional expressions and distributions by using visual representations and confirm the differences in performance between an experimental and a comparison group of 6th grade students. While the experimental group mathematics lessons is from the reconstructed textbook, the comparison group lessons is from an existing textbook that does not include any reconstructive representations. A t-test of mean was applied to determine the differences between the experimental and comparison group. Analysis revealed significant differences in the mean between the experimental group and the comparison group, and the intermediate level group showed more improvement compared to the higher and lower level groups. An implication of this study is that the application of visual representations can assist students' understanding of ratio-related concepts.