• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.111-130
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• 2021

This exploratory study focuses on analyzing three mathematics textbooks in Germany, Singapore and South Korea to reveal similarities and differences in their introductions of fraction concepts. Findings reveal that all three countries' textbooks introduce fraction concepts predominantly by using pictorial representations such as area models, but the introductions of multiple fraction constructs vary. The Singaporean and South Korean textbooks predominantly used a part-whole construct to introduce fractional concepts while the German textbook introduced various constructs sequentially in the first pages using several scenarios from different real-life situations. The findings were represented using visual representations, which we called textbook signatures. The textbook signatures provided configurations of the textbook features across the three countries. At the end of paper, we share insights and limitations about the use of textbook signatures in the research on textbook analysis.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.269-287
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• 2023

Matrix theory is widely used not only in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering, but also in social sciences and artificial intelligence. In the 2009 revised mathematics curriculum, matrices were removed from high school math education to reduce the burden on students, but in anticipation of the age of artificial intelligence, they will be reintegrated into the 2022 revised education curriculum. Therefore, there is a need to analyze the matrix content covered in other countries to suggest a meaningful direction for matrix education and to derive implications for textbook composition. In this study, we analyzed the German mathematics curriculum and standard education curriculum, as well as the matrix units in the German Hesse state mathematics curriculum and textbook, and identified the characteristics of their content elements and development methods. As a result of our analysis, it was found that the German textbooks cover matrices in three categories: matrices for solving linear equations, matrices for explaining linear transformations, and matrices for explaining transition processes. It was also found that the emphasis was on mathematical reasoning and modeling when learning matrices. Based on these findings, we suggest that if matrices are to be reintegrated into school mathematics, the curriculum should focus on deep conceptual understanding, mathematical reasoning, and mathematical modeling in textbook composition.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.44 no.1 s.108
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• pp.1-14
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• 2005

This study analyzed the differences in the contents as well as in the methods of development and presentation of learning contents in Korean and German mathematics textbooks for middle school students. For the research we investigated only the area of geometry, and in particular this study performed in-depth analysis concerning 4 subjects; namely congruences of triangles, special points in a triangle, similarity of figures and the theorem of Pythagoras.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.13 no.4 s.40
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• pp.75-88
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• 2004

The German Werkbund, which was founded in 1907, played an important role in the history of modern architecture. Its exhibition 1914 in Cologne is estimated as a meaningful event in the development of modern architecture. Especially two examples, among which were built at that time, are worthy of notice. The one is the 'Modelfactory' by Walter Gropius and the other 'Glashaus' by Bruno Taut. Generally in the Textbook on the history of modern architecture, the Taut's Glashaus is rarely mentioned or described as a early example of some expressionistic architecture, while the Modelfactory by Gropius is regarded as an essential workpiece in the early stage of modern movement. the time of searching alternative not only from rationalistic modernism but also postmodernism and today in the time of plurality, Taut's Glashaus could bring us more interesting and meaningful aspects in architectural design. Through investigating the background in the planning stage and analysing the composition of space, construction, circulation etc. it is to try to understand the building as really as what it was. Furthermore, historical meanings of the building in the modern architecture is reinterpreted in the following aspects; what should be reflected in architecture and how could 'Zeitgeist' be architecturally adopted?

• School Mathematics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.323-343
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• 2011

The study of 2011 education course revision proposal suggests that middle school level function shall be taught with emphasis on its role as tool to understand the situations of actual world, and the concept shall be extended in high school into formularized setting that integrate various fields based on middle school function. In revising education course, the circumstances of other countries are desired to be considered to keep abreast of international standard education courses. In this study, the textbooks of Gesamtschule a general school a school type similar to the education system in Korea among various school forms of Germany were selected to look into the characteristics of function introduction and teaching & learning in Germany, and the textbooks were compared and analyzed with those of Korea. As a result of comparison and analysis on the system and contents with emphasis on function area, German textbooks differed from the 7th revised education course on the introduction of function concept, contents development method and method of instructing on graph etc. Such differences are anticipated to serve as data for reference in the development of revised education courses and textbooks in Korea.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.433-456
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to suggest the directions for the development and improvement of mathematics textbooks in Korea by examining these characteristics of German textbooks. As a result, German mathematics textbooks were free for unit order and names of units. German mathematics textbooks defined a function for various real life and natural phenomena, relation after intuitively knowing the correspondence between two variables through a graph. In addition, it exercises interpreting the characteristics and information of the graph, guides the activity of graphing various functional situations, and contents to convert various expression methods such as graphs, tables, relational expressions, mathematical terms and sentences. In the German mathematics textbooks, mathematical expressions of the functional relations of the materials in various contexts of daily life, and the activities of predicting and predicting the future, were made to feel the usefulness of mathematics. It has raised functional thinking and provided problems related to other subjects, thus enhancing connectivity with other disciplines. It also included open issues and issues that required mathematical communication.

• School Mathematics
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.397-415
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• 2006

This paper is to find out the reason why students often make mistakes with 0 during computation and to get some instructional implication. For this, history of 0 is reviewed and mathematics textbook and workbook are analyzed. History of 0 tells us that the ancients had almost the same problem with 0 as we have. So we can guess children's problems with 0 have a kind of epistemological obstacles. And textbook analysis tells us that there are some instructional problems with 0 in textbooks: method and time of introducing 0, method of introducing computational algorithms, implicit teaching of the number facts with 0, ignoring the problems which can give rise to errors with 0. Finally, As a reult of analysis of Japanese and German textbooks, three instructional implications are induced:(i) emphasis of role of 0 as a place holder in decimal numeration system (ii) explicit and systematic teaching of the process and product of calculation with 0 (iii) giving practice of problems which can give rise to errors with 0 for prevention of systematical errors with 0.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.353-371
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• 2008

This study contains three themes as follows concerning the state of mathematics education and the textbooks in east and west germany before unification and in unified germany. The first subject is the investigations of the organization of the school systems and of the syllabus of mathematics in east germany in those days. Second, we analyzed the process of preparation for integration before unification, the nature of integration policies and the convention for the unification. Finally, we compare and analyze the similarities and differences in east and west german mathematics textbooks for middle school students combining those in south and north Korea, and further we suggest tasks to be studied in future research.