• The Mathematical Education
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2016

Given the importance of understanding the equal sign in developing early algebraic thinking, this paper investigated how a total of 695 students in grades 2~6 understood the equal sign. The students completed a questionnaire with three types of items (equation structure, equal sign definition, and open equation solving) based on the construct map by four different levels of understanding the equal sign. The questionnaire was analyzed by Rasch model. The results showed that about 80% of the students were at least Level 3 which means a basic relational understanding of the equal sign. However, the success rates varied across grades and it was noticeable that about 70% of the second graders remained at Level 1 or 2 which maintains an operational understanding of the equal sign. The results of item types demonstrated that item difficulty for the advanced relational thinking was the highest and this is the same even for the Level 4 students. This paper is expected to investigate elementary school students' understanding of the equal sign and provide implications of how to deal with the equal sign in the elementary school.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2016

Patterns are of great significance to develop algebraic thinking of elementary students. This study analyzed teaching methods of patterns in current elementary mathematics textbook series in terms of three main activities related to pattern generalization (i.e., analyzing the structure of patterns, investigating the relationship between two variables, and reasoning and representing the generalized rules). The results of this study showed that such activities to analyze the structure of patterns are not explicitly considered in the textbooks, whereas those to explore the relationship between two variables in a pattern are emphasized throughout all grade levels using function table. The activities to reason and represent the generalized rules of patterns are dealt in a way both for lower grade students to use informal representations and for upper grade students to employ formal representations with expressions or symbols. The results of this study also illustrated that patterns in the textbooks are treated rather as a separate strand than as something connected to other content strands. This paper closes with several implications to teach patterns in a way to foster early algebraic thinking of elementary school students.

• School Mathematics
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.409-426
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• 2007

The relevance of secondary school algebra focused on paper and pencil manipulation has been reconsidered along with the expansion of universal education and the development of ICT such as computer or calculators. This study was designed to investigate the issues and trends of the recent algebra so as to provide implementations for algebra curriculum in Korea. The focus of algebra education has being shifted from paper pencil manipulation to algebraic thinking. The early algebra or informal algebra is one of the important traits of revolution, and the role of ICT is integrated in newly developed curricula. In Korea, algebra education has been retaining the traditional line even though the national curriculum documents allows ICT for instruction. The reasons of these discrepancies were analyzed and the tasks for the new curriculum in accordance with the current trends were suggested in this paper.