A Comparative Analysis of Proportional Reasoning in U.S. and Korean Mathematics Textbooks

• In Event: What and Whose Stories Are Told in Mathematics Education and Toward What Ends?

Abstract

This study examined the presentation of proportional reasoning in the US and Korean mathematics textbooks for grades 6 -7. Four research-based analytical frameworks were used to analyze the nature of the mathematical problems presented in the two countries’ textbooks. Findings showed that the U.S. textbooks contain a higher percentage of problems with more complex number structures that require explanations and multiple visual representations than Korean textbooks. In contrast to the US textbooks, Korean textbooks use more concrete problems and problems with easier number structures and more problems requiring only numerical answers. Overall, these findings may suggest ways to design and use the textbooks in the two countries to support students’ meaningful and explicit learning of proportional reasoning.

Authors

• Ji-Won Son, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• SeungJung Jo, SUNY - Geneseo