Search

Competitions and related activities are an essential part of mathematics education for gifted students. China has been one of the most successful countries in recent decades in the International Mathematical Olympiad. To illustrate the Chinese experience of mathematics competitions, in this paper we first present a historical sketch of Chinese mathematics competitions, then provide a comprehensive description of its pyramidal selection and training systems, including the introduction of main competitions for high school students, some examples of competition problems, and the training of students and tutors. Furthermore, to investigate the influence of mathematics competitions on contestants, an empirical study of 372 former contestants was conducted and is reported. The results showed that most of the contestants majored in mathematics or areas closely related to mathematics. Nearly half of the contestants intended to do mathematics research or work highly related to mathematics. A majority of the contestants held positive attitudes toward their mathematics competition experiences and affirmed the value of these experiences in cultivating personal interests and developing mathematics abilities. Some negative influences of competition experiences on contestants are also identified. Finally, problems existing in the development of Chinese mathematics competitions and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical modelling has been included in many mathematics curricula worldwide, and China's curricula are no exception. The development of modelling competencies has recently been listed among the Chinese mathematics curriculum's six key objectives. However, the manner in which nationwide learning and teaching of modelling should be conducted presents a key challenge to China's schools, most of which are wholly lacking in experience of this practice. In this study we present a thematic analysis of the conceptions of four mathematicians, five mathematics educators and seven mathematics teachers, with regard to the learning and teaching of modelling. The results show that the participants' views of modelling can be categorised and linked to the following theoretical perspectives of modelling: applied, epistemological, educational, pedagogical and conceptual perspectives. Interestingly, the mathematicians and mathematics educators tended towards the atomistic approach to the learning and teaching of modelling, while the mathematics teachers placed greater emphasis on the holistic approach. The mathematicians and mathematics educators stressed student autonomy, while the teachers emphasised teacher demonstration. All participants considered group work to be an appropriate means of conducting modelling learning and teaching. Additionally, some teachers were concerned that modelling could not be incorporated into mathematical teaching and learning if it could not be included in high-stakes examinations. The paper concludes with a discussion on the rationale behind the existence of the various conceptions and the potential insights that may be drawn from these conceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling competencies are currently included in numerous curricula worldwide and are generally accepted as a complex, process-oriented construct. Therefore, effective measurement should include multiple dimensions, like the sub-competencies required throughout the modelling process. Departing from the characteristics of modelling problems as open and often underdetermined real-world problems, we propose to enrich the current conceptualisation of mathematical modelling competencies by including creativity, which plays an important role in numerous phases of the mathematical modelling process but has scarcely been considered in modelling discourse. In the study described in this paper, a new instrument for the evaluation of this enriched construct has been developed and implemented. The modelling competencies incorporating creativity of the students were evaluated based on the adequacy of the models and the modelling processes proposed, and the appropriateness and completeness of the approaches were evaluated in detail. Adapting measurement approaches for creativity that have been developed in the problem-solving discourse, certain criteria of creativity were selected to evaluate the creativity of the students' approaches in tackling modelling problems—namely, usefulness, fluency, and originality. The empirical study was conducted among 107 Chinese students at the upper secondary school level, who attended a modelling camp and independently solved three complex modelling problems. The results reveal significant correlations between fluency and originality in students' performances across all tasks; however, the relationships between usefulness and the other two creativity aspects were not consistent. Overall, the results of the study support the importance of the inclusion of creativity in the construct of modelling competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss students' opportunities to learn to pose mathematical problems, based on a historical analysis of problem posing in the area of number and algebra in six series of Chinese primary school mathematics textbooks published since the 1950s. We examine changes in the proportion and distribution of the problem-posing tasks, and in the presentation of the problem-posing tasks. Our results show a decreasing number of problem-posing tasks as grade level increases, even though problem posing has become more important in mathematics education in China during the last 70 years. This study also provides a variety of examples of problem-posing tasks which could serve as a reference for teachers in other countries in designing and employing problem-posing tasks in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Amabile's componential theory of creativity as a framework, this paper analyzes how Chinese mathematics teachers achieve creative teaching through acquiring in-depth domain-specific knowledge in mathematics, developing creativity-related skills, as well as stimulating student interest in learning mathematics, through well-crafted, activity-enriched lessons. It argues that creative mathematics teaching in the Chinese context is reference-based. There is a standard on what good teaching should look like and there is a greater emphasis on appropriateness in addition to novelty. Chinese mathematics classrooms are also mostly teacher-led, and Chinese teachers often spend a great deal of time to harness their creative teaching methods through various levels of professional development. The mechanism of exemplary mathematics lesson contest fosters collaborations among teachers on course preparation to achieve more effective mathematics teaching. Both features are consistent with the Chinese view of creativity. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic dishonesty is recognised as a serious problem in Australia, and educators have been searching for ways to prevent its escalation. It is important to understand what factors influence cheating. This study used a sample of 446 grade 7 to 9 students, 160 from Macao and 286 from Zhuhai in China, to examine the personal and contextual aspects of academic dishonesty. The findings suggest that involvement and task orientation in the classroom environment (contextual aspects) and intrinsic value and utility value (personal aspects) are associated with students' attitudes toward the acceptability of cheating and cheating behaviour in mathematics. Some suggestions for reducing academic dishonesty are included in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly recognized that the second wave of transmission of Western science and mathematics into China took place in the second half of the nineteenth century, thereby starting a process of modernization which has become synonymous with 'westernization' of the country. In this context mathematics education in China also went through a process of modernization. During this period of great change reformers faced serious challenge and went through a 'mental struggle'. This paper discusses this challenge and mental struggle by taking a close look at the controversy over the establishment of Tianwen Suanxue Guan (School of Astronomy and Mathematics) in Tongwen Guan (School of Combined Learning), one of the schools of Western learning at the time. The attempt to integrate Western mathematics with Chinese traditional mathematics is also discussed through the study of some questions sampled from examinations and students' homework assignments of this school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian children, including Chinese children, perform better than their English-speaking peers in cross-national mathematics studies. This superior Asian performance is attributed to several factors including cultural beliefs, educational systems and practices, and the Chinese number naming system. Given the limited empirical evidence on pre-school mathematics learning in Chinese societies, the outcomes of Western studies are often borrowed and adopted in curriculum planning in Asian schools. The study reported in this paper investigated the performance of Hong Kong Chinese pre-school children based on Western studies involving English-speaking children, and examined the relationship between the Chinese number naming system and children's performance in number and operation concepts. Data were collected from 299 pre-school children aged between 3 and 5 years. The learning sequence of the children in mastering number and operation concepts was established using the Rasch Model. This study provides empirical evidence for the feasibility of borrowing lists of mathematics concepts from studies of English-speaking children to serve as a reference for school-based curriculum planning in a Chinese-speaking context. However, it is not enough to establish the relationship between children's performance and the Chinese number naming system. Classroom instruction and cultural beliefs in mathematics learning are also important in explaining children's performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There were numerous records of solar eclipse in China from the eighth century BC to the fifteenth century AD. Because these records are concise and formalized, I have arranged 938 items into a computer-readable table called ‘‘The table of historic Chinese regular records of solar eclipse’’. In this paper, I explain the structure of the table with a preliminary analysis and statistics of the historical records. To receive the table itself, please request it at liucy@ntsc.ac.cn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Demography (Springer Nature) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)