ABSTRACT Survey on Mathematics Education in the Multicultural Environment Byung-hoon Woo Major in Elementary Mathematics Education Graduate School of Education, Gyeongin National University of Education This study examined the chara... ABSTRACT Survey on Mathematics Education in the Multicultural Environment Byung-hoon Woo Major in Elementary Mathematics Education Graduate School of Education, Gyeongin National University of Education This study examined the characteristics of multicultural students' perception of teaching/learning elementary mathematics compared to students from ordinary families, and also teachers' perception of multicultural math education. It also compared things in common and differences of learning characteristics and perception of math difficulty, perception of interest in math, preparation for math lesson, difficulty of math textbook, and demand for math lesson between students from multicultural families and students from ordinary families. It also analyzed elementary school teachers' perception of multicultural math education. Lastly, this study examined implications for the direction of teaching/learning elementary math for students from multicultural families. Targeting 188 students from multicultural families and 46 students from ordinary families of W elementary school in a certain region of Gyeonggi-do, a survey was conducted including teachers in site. It also examined demands for teaching/learning elementary math from students from multicultural families and teachers in site. This study examined things in common and differences of perception of teaching/learning math between students from multicultural families and students from ordinary families. The results are like below. First, such characteristics like initiative, perception of peer relation, and number of close friends between students from multicultural families and students from ordinary families showed no significant differences. Second, compared to students from ordinary families, students from multicultural families did not show significant differences in the result of subjects preferred/disliked. Third, students from multicultural families felt more difficult in math than other subjects compared to students from ordinary families. Among the areas of math, they felt easier in ‘numbers and arithmetic operation’. Also, students from multicultural families felt difficult in ‘measurement’ and ‘regularity’ while areas felt difficult by students from ordinary families were evenly spread. Students who were educated in Korea for less than two years felt lots of interest in 'numbers and arithmetic operation' while students who were educated in Korea for more than two years showed high interest in other math contents. Fourth, regarding the preparation for math lesson, students from multicultural families with fathers from other countries and Korean mothers could not fully understand math lessons. Students from multicultural families from other countries rather than China and Russian-speaking countries felt difficult in understanding math lessons and also calculating during lessons. Students from multicultural families felt more difficult in group activities during math lessons than students from ordinary families while students from multicultural families including mothers with other nationalities experienced more difficulties in presentation during math lessons than Korean students whose mothers' nationality was Korean. All of these results showed statistically significant differences. Fifth, regarding the level of difficulty in each content of math textbook, students from multicultural families felt more difficult in the whole areas compared to students from ordinary families. Especially, ‘figure’, 'regularity’, and ‘probability & statistics’ showed statistically significant differences between two groups. Sixth, demands for math lesson showed significant differences in accordance with Korean proficiency. When Korean proficiency was low, the desire for additional math lessons was strong. Also, when Korean proficiency was low, the basic arithmetic operation ability was the most desired through math lessons. The perception of multicultural math education in the elementary school site is like below. All the site teachers participating in this study said that multicultural students should be considered in the elementary math education. What would be necessary to elementary school education related to multiculture included the development/distribution of words-centered simple word problems, development of project lessons that cannot be obstructed by linguistic communication, development of textbooks showing other languages as well, distribution of more actual goods materials and teaching aids, and suggestion of what teachers should know in advance through the analysis on curriculums of foreign countries. Based on the results of this study, the direction of teaching/learning mathematics for students from multicultural families could be suggested like below. First, in order to understand differences in progress of our curriculum and also to provide proper lessons/supplementary lessons when teaching students from multicultural families, materials should be developed/distributed. Second, it would be necessary to have teaching/learning measures in areas like 'measurement', 'figures', 'probability & statistics', and 'regularity' which are felt difficult by students from multicultural families. Third, students from multicultural families felt more difficult in group activities than students from ordinary families. To resolve this, it would be necessary to develop/distribute linguistic materials for math class to help communication between teacher and students or between students. Fourth, it would be necessary to have consideration for students from minority multicultural families, instead of China or Russian-speaking countries. Fifth, students from multicultural families need Korean language education related to quick math. Sixth, additional math lessons for students from multicultural families that cannot speak Korean should be established. Seventh, it would be necessary to consider word problems. As the subjects of this study were elementary school students, the contents of the questions might not be correctly delivered to them. Also, the subjects might not accurately respond about their thinking and demands, which is another limitation of this study. As teachers in site were selected from a single school, the characteristics of the school might be reflected, which is another limitation of this study. Lastly, it would be necessary to have additional researches on differences in academic achievement of teaching/learning math, and also the characteristics of students from multicultural families when comparing students from multicultural families with students from ordinary families. If there are many researches on students from multicultural families, it is possible to establish an educational environment in which students from multicultural families are not discriminated against in favor of students from ordinary families. * Keywords: Multicultural Family, Elementary Mathematics, Perception of Teaching∙Learning Math ，韩语论文网站，韩语毕业论文 |
