In recent years, the mathematics curricula of Korea and the United States have emphasized the development of mathematical thinking and mathematical power. It is difficult, however, to determine specifically how a school mathematics curriculum should b...
In recent years, the mathematics curricula of Korea and the United States have emphasized the development of mathematical thinking and mathematical power. It is difficult, however, to determine specifically how a school mathematics curriculum should be organized in actual classroom settings to accomplish this goal. In this study, it is assumed that developing students' mathematical thinking and mathematical power requires a school mathematics curriculum that is focused on the students' cognition and offers 'hands-on' mathematical experience. Considering the fact that the concrete significance of mathematical thinking and mathematical power needs to be explained by the cognition of the students, the appropriate level of cognition required of students in the learning experience offered in the curriculum deserves especial attention with regard to the analysis or development of the mathematics curriculum. Based on the premise that the school mathematics curriculum should be designed in such a way that learning activities and tasks will prompt a higher level of cognitive activity among students, the purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the cognitive levels of students in the current Korean and American mathematics curricula. Ultimately, it is a basic study to explore ways to design the future mathematics curriculum. More specifically, this study compares and analyzes the cognitive level required of students in math textbooks as a formally intended and potentially implemented curriculum and in a math class as an actually implemented and experienced curriculum. The focus is on the units on elementary multiplication in South Korea and the United States.
In sum, this research seeks to define the characteristic of the students' cognitive level required in the multiplication unit that is covered in second and third grade textbooks and in the classroom activities of South Korea and the United States. Towards that end, this study addresses the following questions:
1. What is characteristic of the cognitive level of students required in the Korean and American elementary school math textbooks?
1.1 What is the cognitive level of students inferred from the similarities, differences, and characteristics of the organization and structure of elementary-school math textbooks of Korea and the United States?
1.2 What is the cognitive level of students inferred from the similarities, differences, and characteristics of the content of elementary-school math textbooks of Korea and the United States?
1.3 What is the cognitive level of students inferred from the performance expectations required in the activities and tasks presented in the elementary-school math textbooks of Korea and the United States?
2. What is characteristic of the cognitive level of students required in the Korean and American elementary school math classroom instructions?
2.1 What is the cognitive level of students inferred from the similarities, differences, and characteristics of the organization and structure of elementary-school math classroom instruction of Korea and the United States?
2.2 What is the cognitive level of students inferred from the similarities, differences, and characteristics of the content of elementary-school math classroom instruction of Korea and the United States?
2.3 What is the cognitive level of students inferred from the performance expectations required in the activities and tasks in the elementary-school math classrooms of Korea and the United States?
To address these questions, this study examined Korea's math textbook of the Seventh National Curriculum and Investigations in number, data, and space, a textbook developed by TERC, Inc. To study classroom instruction, a second-grade math class at M Private Elementary School in South Korea and a third-grade math class at D Public Elementary School in Columbia, Missouri were observed. The content to be compared and analyzed has been limited to the domain of the multiplication unit. Bloom's taxonomy of cognition was used as the basis of reference for comparative analysis of the organization and structure, content, and performance expectations of the textbooks and classroom instructions, with the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) as a frame of reference for analyzing videotaped records of actual lessons. Bloom's taxonomy provides the basis to examine the students' cognition regardless of the subject matter or unit domain, whereas the TIMSS study's framework for the analysis of videotaped lessons used in the international comparative math achievement studies provides a framework for fair, comparative analysis of actual math lessons in several countries.
The major findings of this study are summarized as follows:
First, with regard to the two countries' math textbooks and math lessons, it was found that, in Korea, greater emphasis is placed on the understanding of concepts, expansion of new knowledge through the internalization of the acquired concepts, and application of the knowledge in problem situations. In the United States, investigative activities for the understanding of concepts are valued over the understanding of concepts or knowledge acquisition, and students are guided to understand concepts and acquire knowledge gradually through various investigative activities. Therefore, Korea's mathematics curriculum may be characterized as deductive, while the U.S. mathematics curriculum may be characterized as inductive.
Second, symbolization, formalization, and generalization are emphasized and introduced in the early grades in Korea, whereas concretization, contextualization and diversification are emphasized in the United States. These characteristics are revealed by the degree of use of concrete objects, reliance on the system of symbols including numerals and numeric expressions, and emphasis on other expressions and shared activities. In Korea, concepts are introduced in practical, everyday situations, but then a great emphasis is immediately placed on numbers and numeric formulas using a system of numbers as abstract symbols and mathematical symbols. As a result, students are simply asked to give a uniform answer in one or two-word responses, without the kinds of discussions or sharing of ideas about the problem-solving process or results. Instead, verification of correct answers and correction of wrong answers are greatly emphasized.
In contrast, in the United States, students are encouraged to use mental thinking, rather than pencil-and-paper work, to perform activities using concrete or semi-concrete objects, and to express their ideas in more than two ways including oral or written presentations, or pictures and charts. Thus, diverse approaches and solutions are allowed, with more importance attached to the process of communicating and sharing of their problem-solving processes and feedback than the results of problem-solving activities. Students refine their mathematical concepts through these processes.
Third, the automatization of mathematical algorithms is emphasized in Korea, while the mathematical(number) sense is emphasized in the U.S. In Korea, once students have learned a mathematical idea, they are encouraged to acquire the idea as formalized and generalized knowledge and apply it automatically in several problem situations. In other words, after a concept, principle underlying a concept, or idea has been explained and understood once, it is formalized and generalized through definitions, theorems, and formulas, and students are then required to go through repetitive drill and practice activities. These drill problems are presented by type, whereby students become familiar with the type and structure as well as the content of the problems. The students are also urged to learn and memorize problem-solving algorithms and master problem-solving strategies. In contrast, in the U.S., all activities are presented as new tasks to perform, and solving of a problem starts from the prior knowledge possessed by students prior to their receiving any direct instruction. Whenever a new activity is presented, students are encouraged to discover mathematical concepts, principles underlying the concepts, and ideas through the whole process of investigation into the given activities and tasks from the recall of prior knowledge through to the reflective evaluation of the given activity. In this process, students are required to draw on every ounce of their knowledge, information, and everyday routine experience to solve the given problem; no guidelines, clues, or examples are provided to them. Students are encouraged to investigate the mathematical subject in the context of everyday life, so an everyday, contextual sense plays an important role in mathematical pursuits. In addition, students are encouraged to translate the results of activities and tasks into an everyday, contextual sense that can be easily applied or used in everyday life. Therefore, no clear distinction is made between math and the domains of everyday life or the other subjects or between different math units. The shaping of a mathematical sense is considered most important.
It may be inferred from these findings that, in terms of the cognition of students, more importance is attached to the levels of knowledge, comprehension, and application in Korea, while relatively more importance is attached to the levels of analysis and synthesis in the U.S. in comparison to the levels of knowledge, comprehension, and application. These findings are also consistent with the results of the study on the use of the performance expectations by frequency and percentage, and they are more evident when the organization, structure, and content of the math curricula and the type and examples of the performance language are examined comprehensively in connection with the contexts.
On the basis of these findings, suggestions to improve the Korean and American math curricula are as follows: In Korea, the emphasis of the math curriculum should be emphasized from the cognitive levels of knowledge, comprehension, and application to analysis and synthesis. Towards this end, textbooks and students' activities and tasks presented in classroom settings should consist of voluntary exploratory activities of students. Instead of passive understanding and acquiring concepts and applying them in a specified manner, activities and tasks should be oriented toward increasing the cognitive level of students by encouraging students to explore and discover concepts, principles, and ideas on their own. In addition, over-emphasis on quickly producing accurate answers during problem-solving activities or automatization of mathematical algorithms should be avoided, while efforts should be made to find ways for students to develop mathematical thinking and mind-sets through exploratory activities, to engage in exploratory activities through diverse ways of expression in the context of everyday life, and to develop their mathematical sense in real, everyday life. In the U. S., efforts should be made to lead students from a high cognitive level of analysis and synthesis to actual problem-solving. The curriculum should be structured so that the rich results of students' exploration and discovery are refined into mathematical concepts and functions that will be clearly applicable to actual problems. In other words, the rich experience acquired from performing mathematical activities and tasks should be systematically organized into mathematical knowledge. This requires a process of arranging experiential knowledge into mathematical knowledge. This process can serve as a powerful platform for any follow-up activities and tasks, and it will also translate students activities into an ability to solve actual problems.