• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.285-309
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• 2022

A large body of previous studies investigated mathematical tasks by analyzing the design process prior to lessons or textbooks. While researchers have revealed the significant roles of mathematical tasks within written curricular, there has been a call for studies about how mathematical tasks are implemented or what is experienced and learned by students as enacted curriculum. This article proposes a mathematical task analytic framework based on a holistic definition of tasks encompassing both written tasks and the process of task enactment. We synthesized the features of the mathematical tasks and developed a task analytic framework with multiple dimensions: breadth, depth, bridging, openness, and interaction. We also applied the scoring rubric to analyze three multiplication tasks to illustrate the framework by its five dimensions. We illustrate how a series of tasks are analyzed through the framework when students are engaged in multiplicative thinking. The framework can provide important information about the qualities of planned tasks for mathematics instruction (proactive) and the qualities of implemented tasks during instruction (reactive). This framework will be beneficial for curriculum designers to design rich tasks with more careful consideration of how each feature of the tasks would be attained and for teachers to transform mathematical tasks with the provision of meaningful learning activities into implementation.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.111-128
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze the cognitive demand of the mathematical tasks suggested in the middle school textbooks. In particular, it aimed to reveal the overall picture of the level of cognitive demand of the mathematical tasks in the strand of geometry in the textbooks. We adopted the framework for mathematical task analysis suggested by Stein & Smith(1998) and analyzed the mathematical tasks accordingly. The findings from the analysis showed that 95 percent of the mathematical tasks were at high level and the rest at low level in terms of cognitive demand. Most of the mathematical tasks in the textbooks were algorithmic and focused on producing correct answers by using procedures. In particular, the high level tasks were presented at the end of each chapter or unit for wrap up rather than as key resources.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.253-270
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• 2023

This study aims to investigate the extent to which Korean high school textbooks incorporate opportunities for students to engage in the mathematical modeling process through tasks related to exponential and logarithmic functions. The tasks in three textbooks were analyzed based on the actions required for each stage in the mathematical modeling process, which includes identifying essential variables, formulating models, performing operations, interpreting results, and validating the outcomes. The study identified 324 units across the three textbooks, and the reliability coefficient was 0.869, indicating a high level of agreement in the coding process. The analysis revealed that the distribution of tasks requiring engagement in each of the five stages was similar in all three textbooks, reflecting the 2015 revised curriculum and national curriculum system. Among the 324 analyzed tasks, the highest proportion of the units required performing operations found in the mathematical modeling process. The findings suggest a need to include high-quality tasks that allow students to experience the entire process of mathematical modeling and to acknowledge the limitations of textbooks in providing appropriate opportunities for mathematical modeling with a heavy emphasis on performing operations. These results provide implications for the development of mathematical modeling activities and the reconstruction of textbook tasks in school mathematics, emphasizing the need to enhance opportunities for students to engage in mathematical modeling tasks and for teachers to provide support for students in the tasks.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.61-75
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• 2015

This study analyzed the characteristics of mathematical tasks including the level of cognitive demands set up by pre-service elementary school teachers. 50 pre-service teachers in G university of education who participated in their 4 weeks teaching practicum were selected as subjects. They planned and implemented mathematics lesson with their lesson plans. Lesson plans, video of their lessons, transcript of video were gathered and analyzed the characteristics of mathematical tasks used in their lesson. Through the analysis, several conclusions were drawn as follow. First, 78% of the subjects modified tasks in mathematics textbooks. Since modification or construction of mathematical tasks gives good chance for constructing mathematical task knowledge for teaching, more chance should be given to pre-service teachers to construct new tasks or modify tasks in mathematics textbooks. Second, types of modification done by pre-service teachers were categorized as number change(15.6%), situation change(78.1%) and material change(6.3%). As Chapman(2013) emphasized the importance of MtKT, pre-service teachers must have more MtKT by understanding the characteristics of mathematical tasks. Third, the level of cognitive demands required by mathematical tasks were relatively low. 74% of mathematical tasks was lower cognitive demands and only 26% was higher cognitive demands. The level of cognitive demands of tasks in mathematics textbooks tended to be lowered by the directions given right after the tasks were given. In this respect, the structure of mathematics textbooks need to be changed.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.281-300
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• 2015

The purpose of this research is to analyze cognitive demands, answer types, and storytelling types on the basis of mathematical tasks in five different mathematics textbooks based on 2009 revised curriculum in order to suggest directions for the development and use of storytelling mathematics textbooks in school. Results show that first, PNC (Procedures without Connections) task was the largest category in cognitive demands of all mathematical tasks, Low-Level task was larger than others in cognitive demands of mathematical content tasks, and High-Level task was larger than others in cognitive demands of mathematical activity tasks. Second, a short-answer type was the largest category in answer types of all mathematical tasks, the majority of mathematical content tasks were a short-answer type, and the majority of mathematical activity tasks were both short-answer and explanation-answer types. Finally, storytelling connected to real-life was the largest category in storytelling types, and the number of mathematical activity tasks was less than that of mathematical content tasks. However, in the tasks reflected on storytelling, the percentage of mathematical activity tasks was higher than that of mathematical content tasks. Based on the results, while developing storytelling mathematics textbooks and using storytelling textbooks in school, it suggests to consider the need for balance and diversity in cognitive demands, answer types, and storytelling types according to mathematical tasks.

• 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.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.103-123
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• 2017

Mathematical tasks in general introduce and deal with real-life situations, and they derive to students' thinking fluently in solving the given tasks. The tasks might be considered as an important and significant factor to lead a successful mathematical teaching and learning situation. MiC Textbook is a representative one showing such good examples and tasks. This study explores concretely and in detail the cognitive demand level of mathematical tasks, by the subject of MiC Textbook. To accomplish this, this study is to reconstruct more elaborately the analysis framework developed by Hwang and Park in 2013. The framework basically was set up utilizing 'the cognitive demand level' suggested by Stein, et, al. The cognitive demand level is divided into two levels such as low level and high level. The low level is comprized of two elements such as Memorization Tasks(MT), Procedures Without Connections Tasks(PNCT), and high level is Procedures With Connections Tasks(PWCT), and Doing Mathematics Tasks(DMT). This study deals with the tasks on the area of 'data analysis and statistics' in MiC 1, 2, 3 level Textbook. As a result, mathematical tasks of MiC Textbook led learners to deal with and understand mathematical content for themselves, and furthermore to do leading roles for checking and reinforcing the content. Also, mathematical tasks of MiC Textbook are comprized of the tasks suitable to enhance mathematical thinking ability through communication. In addition, mathematical tasks of MiC Textbook tend to offer more learning opportunity to learners' themselves while the level of MiC Textbook is going up.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.621-641
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• 2017

The purposes of this study were to identify the characteristics of students with different cognitive styles in the communication process according to the types of mathematical tasks and investigate the effects of their cognitive styles and types of mathematical tasks on their mathematical communication. For this, the investigator selected subjects according to the field dependent-field independent cognitive style by Witkin et al.(1977, p. 7). Mathematical tasks were developed in the areas of numbers and operations, regularity, and measurement according to the four types of Stein & Smith(1998, p. 269), which include the Memorization, Procedures without Connections, Procedures with Connections, and Doing Mathematics tasks. The selected students were divided into homogeneous groups according to their cognitive styles, and their communication processes according to the four types of mathematical tasks were observed through participation and videotaped. The videotapes were then transcribed and analyzed in protocols. The conclusions is that mathematical tasks of high cognitive level had positive effects on the activation of significant mathematical communication among the students and that differences in approaches to tasks according to their cognitive styles influenced their communicative activities in speaking and listening.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.155-173
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to offer the implication for elementary school mathematics teaching by analyzing teachers' reflection on the cognitive demands of mathematical tasks they give in class. During the setup phase and the implementation phase in math class, the researchers analyzed the change of cognitive demands on mathematical tasks and the factors which had influence on such changes. After teachers' reflection on teaching, the researchers analyzed the change of cognitive demands on mathematical tasks and the factors which had influence on such changes in math classes. As a result, before teachers' reflection on the cognitive demands of mathematical tasks, the higher-level demands of mathematical tasks had a tendency to decline. However, after teachers' reflection on the cognitive demands of mathematical tasks, higher-level demands of mathematical tasks were maintained.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.167-202
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• 2023

A central problem of mathematics teaching worldwide is probably the insufficient adaptive handling of tasks-especially in computational practice phases and modeling tasks. All students in a classroom must often work on the same tasks. In the process, the high-achieving students are often underchallenged, and the low-achieving ones are overchallenged. This publication uses different modeling of the tennis serve as an example to show a possible solution to the problem and develops and discusses one adaptive task each for middle school, high school, and college using three mathematical models of the tennis serve each time. From model to model within the task, the complexity of the modeling increases, the mathematical or physical demands on the students increase, and the new modeling leads to more realistic results. The proposed models offer the possibility to address heterogeneous learning groups by their arrangement in the surface structure of the so-called parallel adaptive task and to stimulate adaptive mathematics teaching on the instructional topic of mathematical modeling. Models A through C are suitable for middle school instruction, models C through E for high school, and models E through G for college. The models are classified in the specific modeling cycle and its extension by a digital tool model, and individual modeling steps are explained. The advantages of the presented models regarding teaching and learning mathematical modeling are elaborated. In addition, we report our first teaching experiences with the developed parallel adaptive tasks.