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Conceptualizing and organizing content for teaching and learning in selected Chinese, Japanese and US mathematics textbooks: the case of fraction division

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Abstract

In this study, selected Chinese, Japanese and US mathematics textbooks were examined in terms of their ways of conceptualizing and organizing content for the teaching and learning of fraction division. Three Chinese mathematics textbook series, three Japanese textbook series, and four US textbook series were selected and examined to locate the content instruction of fraction division. Textbook organization of fraction division and other content topics were described. Further analyses were then conducted to specify how the content topic of fraction division was conceptualized and introduced. Specific attention was also given to the textbooks’ uses of content constructs including examples, representations, and exercise problems in order to show their approaches for the teaching and learning of fraction division. The results provide a glimpse of the metaphors of mathematics teaching and learning that have been employed in Chinese, Japanese, and US textbooks. In particular, the results from the textbook analyses demonstrate how conceptual underpinnings were developed while targeting procedures and operations. Implications of the study are then discussed.

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Notes

  1. In this article, “division of fraction” and “fraction division” refer to the same content topic, and it is also abbreviated as DoF.

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Acknowledgments

The initial development of studying textbooks on the topic of fraction division was supported in part by a research grant from the Spencer Foundation to the first author. However, any opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Spencer Foundation. We would like to thank the journal editor and three reviewers for their thoughtful comments on a prior version of this article.

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  1. College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-4232, USA

    Yeping Li, Xi Chen & Song An

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  1. Yeping Li
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  2. Xi Chen
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Correspondence to Yeping Li.

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Li, Y., Chen, X. & An, S. Conceptualizing and organizing content for teaching and learning in selected Chinese, Japanese and US mathematics textbooks: the case of fraction division. ZDM Mathematics Education 41, 809–826 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-009-0177-5

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