초등학생의 대수적 사고 측정을 위한 과제 개발 연구: 위계적 요인분석을 중심으로 = A study on developing tasks to measure algebraic thinking for elementary school students: A hierarchical factor analysis

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

As the importance of addressing algebraic thinking in elementary mathematics has become increasingly recognized, a growing body of research has focused on measuring algebraic thinking in elementary students. However, much of this research centers on specific concepts—such as understanding of the equal sign or functional relationships— and primarily investigates students’ thinking patterns or related instructional strategies. In contrast, studies that aim to comprehensively measure elementary students’ algebraic thinking across multiple dimensions remain limited.
To address this gap, the present study focuses on developing and validating measurement tasks that holistically capture the various factors of algebraic thinking. Drawing on an extensive review of the literature, we identified key factors and developed or refined tasks aligned with each. These tasks were then administered to 226 sixth grade students in Korea, and Second-order confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the structural validity of the measurement. The results revealed that the developed tasks reflect a valid factor structure consisting of seven factors, which are organized under two major dimensions: understanding of generalized arithmetic and understanding of functional relationships. The study concludes with a discussion of implications for designing effective measurement tools to assess algebraic thinking in elementary education.