Modern industrial societies demands practically competent individuals equipped with mathematical literacy, problem-solving abilities, quantitative reasoning, and decision-making skills to navigate rapidly evolving technological environments and comple...
Modern industrial societies demands practically competent individuals equipped with mathematical literacy, problem-solving abilities, quantitative reasoning, and decision-making skills to navigate rapidly evolving technological environments and complex occupational structures. This underscores the importance of numeracy, which enables the practical application of mathematics in diverse vocational and real-life contexts. However, it has been consistently pointed out that traditional mathematics education, which focuses on the transmission of mathematical knowledge, limits the development of the mathematical judgment and application skills required in actual workplaces. Consequently, there is a growing need to restructure mathematics education toward a practice-oriented approach grounded in vocational contexts.
Mathematics education in specialized high schools should aim to foster numeracy as a foundational vocational competency. However, a structural limitation persists as instruction continues to rely on the national curriculum designed for general high schools. As a result, students perceive mathematics as abstract knowledge disconnected from their vocational tasks, leading to diminished learning motivation and hindering the cultivation of practical mathematical competencies.
To address this issue, the 2022 Revised National Curriculum introduced a new subject titled “Mathematics for the Workplace.” However, for this institutional measure to drive substantial change in schools, it must be accompanied by practice-oriented instructional designs based on vocational contexts. Curriculum integration between mathematics and vocational subjects has been discussed as a key approach to reconstructing the role of mathematics within job tasks. This integration is significant in vocational education as it extends mathematics beyond a mere computational tool, facilitating decision-making, collaboration, and problem-solving. Nevertheless, teachers face practical difficulties in reconstructing problems and designing lessons that center on the actual applicability of mathematics. Furthermore, the theoretical foundations, design principles, and instructional models to support them are not sufficiently established.
Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to develop and validate design principles and an instructional model for curriculum-integrated mathematics instruction based on vocational contexts. To achieve this, two specific research questions were established: first, to develop design principles and an instructional model for curriculum-integrated mathematics instruction in vocational contexts; and second, to examine the responses of teachers and students to these principles and the model.
This study applied a design-based research (DBR) methodology, aiming to solve problems in actual educational settings while simultaneously generating context-sensitive design principles and theories. DBR bridges the gap between theory and practice through iterative cycles of analysis, design, evaluation, and implementation in collaboration with researchers and practitioners. The research was conducted in three phases: model development, internal validation, and external validation.
In the model development phase, literature on curriculum integration theory, situated learning theory, and cases of vocational context-based mathematics instruction was reviewed to derive initial design principles and an instructional model. In the internal validation phase, the initial design was reviewed by five experts in education, mathematics education, and vocational subjects through surveys and in-depth interviews, leading to the first revision. In the external validation phase, field implementation was conducted with two teams of teachers (two mathematics teachers and two vocational subject teachers) and 23 students at a specialized high school. Based on the analysis of their responses, the final design principles and instructional model were established.
The results of the study are as follows. First, the study derived initial design principles consisting of four design elements—cross-curricular connection structure, problem-based learning, tool utilization, and collaborative structure—along with 12 principles and 24 specific guidelines. The initial instructional model was structured into three categories (recognizing mathematical concepts, applying to vocational contexts, and expanding) and six specific steps (introduction–exploration–application–transfer–consolidation–feedback).
Second, through expert validation, the initial principles and model were revised. The design principles were refined to better reflect learner characteristics and agency, ensure clarity and consistency of terminology, and elaborate on collaborative structures for legitimate peripheral participation. The instructional model was improved by introducing a non-linear cyclic structure for the problem-solving process and clarifying the instructional steps.
Third, based on the field application in a specialized high school, the final design principles and instructional model were confirmed. The implementation revealed that the instruction had a positive impact on both students' cognitive understanding and affective aspects. Teachers also evaluated the principles and model as effective supports for systematically designing curriculum-integrated mathematics instruction based on vocational contexts.
Based on these findings, this study discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the research. Future research suggestions include examining the generalizability of the model to subjects such as “Mathematics for the Workplace” in general high schools, conducting longitudinal studies on student competency development, further researching multi-cyclic design processes to enhance transferability to various vocational subjects, and developing practical support systems, such as teacher training programs, for effective implementation in educational practice.