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Bibliography begun by Liping Ding. Last updated in November 2004
This bibliography focuses on publications in English that are either by Chinese researchers or about China, and that report on school mathematics education at either elementary and secondary levels (covering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, but particularly selecting those publications about mainland China).
The bibliography is in four sections:
1. The Development of School Mathematics Education in China
2. Class Teaching and Learning
3. International Comparative Studies in Mathematics Education
4. Mathematics Education and Technology
The bibliography was generated through a systematic search of the literature.
1. The Development of School Mathematics Education in China
Ding, E.-Sh. (1999) Mathematics curriculum reform facing the
new century in China. In Z. Usiskin, (ed.) Developments
in school mathematics education around the world:
applications-oriented curricula and technology-supported learning
for all students, Volume Four. Proceedings of the forth UCSMP
(University of Chicago School Mathematics Project) International
Conference on Mathematics Education, The University of
Chicago, August 5-7, 1998, pp.58-70.
The author, one of the leading mathematics educators in China and
professor in mathematics department of Beijing Normal University,
briefly describes the main research results of a national major
project in basic mathematics education in China, The
Perspective of Mathematics Education in China in the 21st
Century—the theory and practice of ‘mathematics for
all’. Six general parts are reported: background of
mathematics curriculum reform; the fundamental thinking of
mathematics curriculum reform; mathematical ideas and methods in
terms of ‘mathematics for all’; the program of
elementary mathematics curriculum reform; the main points of
junior middle school mathematics curriculum reform and, on senior
middle school mathematics curriculum reform.
Wang, L.Q. (1992) Chinese advancements in mathematics
education. Educational Studies In Mathematics, 23(3),
287-298.
This is an early study of the beginning stage of the significant
educational reforms of school mathematics in China. Five main
aspects of the reform are described: curriculum, syllabus and
textbooks; teaching research and exchange experience; teacher
training; professional organizations in the field of maths
education and, the progress of Chinese students.
Wang, J. (2004) The reform of mathematics curriculum during
compulsory education in China. In J. Wang and B. Xu
(eds.) Trends and challenges in mathematics education,
pp.159-174. Shanghai, China: East China Normal University Press.
This is a brief description of the current school mathematics
curriculum reform in China. The article includes three key parts:
the overall curriculum reform during compulsory education in
China, mathematics curriculum reform during compulsory education
and, some characteristics of the reform. The author is the chief
editor of mathematics textbook for Grades 7-9 (2001-2003),
published by East China Normal University Press, Shanghai.
Zhang, D. (1992) Some puzzling questions arising from
mathematics education in China. In I. Wirszup and R.
Streit (eds.) Developments in school mathematics education
around the world: applications-oriented curricula and
technology-supported learning for all students, Volume Three.
Proceedings of the third UCSMP (University of Chicago School
Mathematics Project) International Conference on Mathematics
Education, The University of Chicago, October 30-November 1,
1991, pp.468-480.
The author, one of the leading mathematics educators in China and
professor in mathematics department of East China Normal
University in Shanghai, uses a considerable amount of data to
describe the current situation and problems emerging in
mathematics education in China. Five key problems are identified
and discussed in the paper: severe entrance examinations;
mathematics as a rigorous, logical, and deductive system; high
intensity school training; traditional didactical principles,
such as ‘practice makes perfect’ and, effective
teaching of routine mathematical problem solving.
2. Class Teaching and Learning
Kong, Q.-P., Wong, N.-Y. and Lam Ch.-Ch. (2004) The
relationship between student engagement and learning outcome in
mathematics classroom: an investigation in Shanghai. In J. Wang
and B. Xu (eds.) Trends and challenges in mathematics
education, pp.27-42. Shanghai, China: East China Normal
University Press.
In this article, the researchers emphasise the importance of
learning how Chinese students learn mathematics. They explore the
relationship between student engagement and learning outcome in
mathematics according to class observation, students’
interview, students’ answers of a set of mathematics
problems (which include 6 computation problems, 8 word problems
and 5 open-ended problems) and the use of a developed instrument,
the student engagement in the mathematics classroom scale.
According to the study, students’ behavioural, affective and
cognitive engagements are largely related to their performances
in mathematics problems. The authors also discuss the
relationship between non-routine questions (with deep strategy in
learning) and the solving of routine problems (with surface
strategy in learning).
Lam, Ch., Ma, Y., Wong, N. (1999) Teacher Development, Not
Accountability Control, Is the Key to Successful Curriculum
Implementation: A Case Study of Two Primary Schools in Northeast
China. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
April 19-23, 1999.
The authors are all Chinese researchers. In this study, they
examine the differences between mathematics teachers adapting the
national curriculum and teaching materials in two elementary
schools, one in a rural area and another in a large city of
northeast China. Formal and informal interviews of teachers,
principals and students were made, and teachers’
professional activities and their practical work were recorded.
Data are largely used to stress the essential role of
teachers’ professional development in the effective
implementation of the new curriculum.
Li, Sh. (2004) Does practice make perfect? In J. Wang
and B. Xu (eds.) Trends and challenges in mathematics
education, pp.175-184. Shanghai, China: East China Normal
University Press.
In China, a considerable number of teachers believe that
"practice makes perfect "and regard it as one of the
most effective teaching approaches. In this article, the author
fully discusses two meanings of the proverb in the traditional
Chinese mathematics teaching, through analysing the cognitive
process of mathematics concept.
Siu, M.-K. (1993) Proof and Pedagogy in ancient China:
examples from Liu Hui’s commentary on Jiu Zhang Suan Shu. Educational
Studies In Mathematics, 24(4), 345-358.
The author discusses the pedagogical implications made by Liu Hui
in his study of a considerable number of examples of an ancient
Chinese mathematical classic, Jiu Zhang Suan Shu. The role of
proof in ancient Chinese mathematics is discussed and suggestions
about geometry teaching and learning, based on Liu Hui’s
ideas, are introduced.
Taplin, M. and Yin, K.L. (1996) Critical moments in a
teacher’s attempts to introduce discussion-based teaching
into a secondary mathematics programme. In P.C. Clarkson
(ed.) Technology in mathematics education proceedings of the
19th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research
Group of Australasia (MERGA) June 30-July 3, 1996 at The
University of Melbourne, pp.542-548.
This article evaluates the process of a secondary school
mathematics teacher in Hong Kong to try to enhance the quality of
students’ mathematics learning, by introducing a
discussion-based approach. The difficulties the teacher met
reflect the problems in the application of the non-traditional
teaching approach. The key factors which are related to such
difficulties are largely discussed.
Turner, R. (1994) Sex differences in mathematical performance
among Chinese middle school students. In G. Bell, B.
Wright, N. Leeson and J. Geake (eds.) Proceedings of the 17th
annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of
Australasia (MERGA): Challenges in mathematics education:
Constraints on Construction, 1(2), pp.649-666.
This paper investigates sex differences of first year secondary
school students in mathematical performance in Wuhan, a central
city of China. The study focuses on three mathematical areas:
logic, space and numeracy.
3. International Comparative Studies in Mathematics Education
An, Sh. (2004) The middle path in math instruction:
solutions for improving math education. U.S.A.:
ScarecrowEducation.
The author of the book is a mathematics educator who has nine
years mathematics teaching experience at the college level in
China and 6 years at the secondary level in the U.S.A. In the
book, she evaluates the different implications for teachers to
know and understand three kinds of knowledge such as the content
and pedagogical knowledge as well as the pedagogical content
knowledge of mathematics. Ten teachers’ mathematics lessons,
five from the U.S.A. and five from mainland China at both
elementary and lower secondary school levels are observed and an
interview of the teacher is followed after each lesson
observation. Data are used to examine the different teaching
styles and strategies in the lessons. Teachers’ belief of
mathematics and its teaching are also comparatively studied.
Cai, J. and Silver, E.A. (1995) Solution processes and
interpretations of solutions in solving a division-with-remainder
story problem: Do Chinese and U.S students have similar
difficulties? Journal For Research In Mathematics Education,
26(5), 491-497.
In this article, the authors evaluate students’ performance
on tasks which require mathematical thinking and reasoning. They
suggest that the cross-national performance comparisons be done
by using of a range of mathematical tasks, which not only to
assess procedural knowledge, but also assess mathematical
understanding and complex problem solving.
Cao, Zh. and Bishop, A. (2001) Students’ attributions of
success and failure in mathematics: findings in China and
Australia. In J. Bobis, B. Perry and M. Mitchelmore
(eds.) Numeracy and Beyond proceedings of the 24th annual
conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of
Australasia (MERGA) June 30 - July 4, 2001, held at The
University of Sydney, 1, pp.139-146.
This article investigates Chinese students’ attributions of
success and failure in mathematics in mainland China in order to
compare that with students in Australia. The study shows that
Chinese students regard environment and effort as important
factors to success in mathematics, while students in Australia
consider task and environment as essential factors. Gender
differences in mathematics learning are also analysed in the
paper.
Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong (2002) Pre-conference
proceedings of the ICMI comparative study conference 2002,
Hong Kong.
In these "pre-proceedings" of the conference held in
Hong Kong in 2002, a considerable number of Chinese researchers
presented their research work, such as An Shuhua, Cai Jinfa, Li
Shiqi, Li Yeping, Leung Frederick K S, Zheng Yuxin, etc. The
various papers are categorise in terms of teaching and learning,
values and beliefs, curriculum, textbooks and context.
Galligan, L. (1997) Relational word problems: A cross-cultural
comparison. In F. Biddulph and K. Carr (eds.) People
in Mathematics Education ,proceedings of the 25th annual
conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of
Australasia (MERGA) July 7-11 1997, held at Rotorua, New
Zealand, 1, pp.177-183.
This is an article about cross cultural language comparison
between English and Chinese in mathematics. The author
particularly focuses on comparing some findings of problem
processing of mathematical word problems in Chinese and English.
Ginsburg, H.P., Choi, Y.E., Lopez, L.S., Netley, R. and Chi,
Ch.-Y. (1997) Happy birthday to you: early mathematical thinking
of Asian, South American, and U.S. children. In T. Nunes
and P. Bryant (eds.) Learning and teaching mathematics: an
international perspective. East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press
Ltd.
This chapter, starting with the finding of the great differences
of children’s school mathematics achievement in various
groups, such as different nations, social classes, and races,
investigates informal mathematical thinking of 4-year-olds
children from several social class groups within the U.S.,
schooled and unschooled, Chinese children from families of
factory workers and government officials, middle-class Japanese
children, and several social class groups from Colombia and
Korea. It is found that all preschool children are likely to have
the intellectual potential to learn school mathematics and, the
failure of some groups could be related to motivation and the
system of schooling of the groups.
Ho, H., Senturk, D., Lam, A. G., Zimmer, J.M., Hong, S.,
Okamoto, Y., Chiu, S., Nakazawa, Y. and Wang, Ch. (2000) The
Affective and Cognitive Dimensions of Math Anxiety: A
Cross-National Study. Journal For Research In Mathematics
Education, 31, 362-379.
This is a comparative study which focuses on the dimensions,
levels, and relationship of math anxiety with mathematics
achievement. The study examines grade six students across three
locations: mainland China, Taiwan, and the United States. In the
article, it is shown that the affective factor of math anxiety is
greatly related to mathematics achievement in the negative
direction. Gender is also considered as a basic factor which is
largely related to both affective and cognitive math anxiety.
Leung, F.K.S. (2001) In Search of an East Asian Identity in
Mathematics Education. Educational Studies In Mathematics,
47, 35-51.
The purpose of this article is to identify the nature of
mathematics education in East Asia, covering mainland China, Hong
Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Singapore. Six dichotomies of
mathematics education are discussed: product versus process; rote
learning versus meaningful learning; studying hard versus
pleasurable learning; extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations;
whole class teaching versus individualized learning; and
competence of teachers: subject matter versus pedagogy. It is
concluded that the nature of such dichotomies is deeply related
to the local culture and an analysis of the value of the culture
is necessary, in order to get the full appreciation of
mathematics education in East Asia.
Leung, F.K.S. (1995) The mathematics classroom in Beijing,
Hong Kong and London. Educational Studies In Mathematics,
29(4), 297-325.
This is a comparative study based on classroom observation, in
which the nature of instructional practices of mathematics
lessons is evaluated in junior secondary schools in Beijing, Hong
Kong and London. This study particularly highlights the
differences of cultural belief rooted in mathematics and in its
teaching and learning between China and the U.K.
Li, Y. (2000) A Comparison of Problems That Follow Selected
Content Presentations in American and Chinese Mathematics
Textbooks. Journal For Research In Mathematics Education,
31, 234-241.
This paper focuses on comparing all relevant problems of addition
and subtraction of integers presented in the several selected
American and Chinese middle school mathematics textbooks (the
seventh grade), in order to interpret the cross-national
similarities and differences in expectations related to the
mathematical experiences of students in the two countries. In the
study, the author developed a three-dimensional framework
(mathematical features, contextual features, and performance
requirements) for analysing the problems. According to the
results analysed in the study, American textbook problems vary in
problem requirements and concern more on conceptual understanding
than Chinese textbook problems. The author also discusses the
relationship between the results of the study and the documented
cross-national differences in American and Chinese students’
mathematical performances.
Ma, L. (1999) Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics:
Teacher's Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics in China and
the United States. New Jersey, U.S.A.: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
This book is a comparative study between China and the USA. It is
made by a Chinese researcher who has considerable experience of
elementary school mathematics teaching in rural areas of south
China. In this book, the author focuses on comparing mathematical
understanding among U.S. and Chinese elementary school
mathematics teachers and relating it to the classroom teaching
practices. The data are informative, and the examples are useful,
particularly to the preservice preparation of teachers as well as
to understanding of teachers' work and their career-long
professional development.
Perry, B., Vistro-Yu, C., Howard, P., Wong, N.-Y. and Keong,
F.H. (2002) Beliefs of primary teachers about mathematics and its
teaching and learning: views from Singapore, Philippines,
Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. In B.
Barton, K. C. Irwin, M. Pfannkuch and M. O. J. Thomas (eds.) Mathematics
Education in the South Pacific, proceedings of the 25th annual
conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of
Australasia (MERGA) July 7-10, 2002 held at The University
of Auckland, 2, pp.551-558.
In this paper, the authors examine 1254 primary school teachers
in terms of their beliefs about mathematics and its teaching and
learning in terms of their different cultural backgrounds across
Singapore, Philippines, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and
Australia. The data are informative and useful in the analysis of
the relationship of teachers’ beliefs with students’
achievement.
Stevenson, H.W. and Stigler, J.W. (1992) The Learning Gap:
why our schools are failing and what we can learn from Japanese
and Chinese education. New York: Touchstone.
This book presents a comprehensive study investigating the
problems of elementary education in the United States, by
comparing the motivations, beliefs and attitudes of teachers,
parents, children and educational practices of schools of the
country with those of Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China. Based on
the data of students’ academic performance in mathematics in
international comparative studies, the authors further evaluate
what works and what does not work, together with the analysis of
the reasons, in mathematics teaching and learning.
Stigler, J.W., Lee, Sh.-Y. and Stevenson, H.W. (1990) Mathematical
knowledge of Japanese, Chinese, and American elementary school
children. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.
This book is an early comparative study which examines the
mathematics abilities of American and Asian students, mainly
elementary school students in Japan, Taiwan and the U.S.A. Two
types of tests are used to evaluate students’ achievement:
group tests of computational skills and tests of individual
student’s knowledge and skill in mathematics, such as word
problems, conceptual knowledge, mathematical operations,
graphing, estimation, visualization, transformation of spatial
relations, and mental calculation. The purpose of the study is
mainly to investigate as many different aspects of elementary
school mathematics as possible between the three locations, in
order to help identify and analyze the weaknesses of school
mathematics education in the U.S.A.
Zhang, D., Sawada, T. and Becker, J.P. (eds.) (1996) Proceedings
of the China-Japan-U.S. seminar on mathematical education,
October 4-8, 1993, held at Shanghai, Weifang and Qingdao, China.
This is a collection of research papers and discussions from a
number of leading Chinese, Japanese and American mathematics
educators and researchers. The main topic of the seminar was
about problem solving in school mathematics in the three
countries. In the seminar, classroom practices in the problem
solving are explored and current data on problem solving in
mathematics education research is examined. Teacher training for
problem solving in school mathematics is also discussed.
Zheng, Y. (2004) The orientation and methodology of the
international comparative studies on mathematics education. In
J. Wang and B. Xu (eds.) Trends and challenges in mathematics
education, pp.283-291. Shanghai, China: East China Normal
University Press.
This article mainly discusses the nature of international
comparative studies in mathematics education. Two factors are
highlighted: the similarities and differences of comparative
objects and, further evaluation of the objects. The author points
out that international comparative studies should deepen
mathematics educators’ understanding of mathematics
education in their own cultural setting.
4. Mathematics Education and Technology
Chow, W.M.R. and Jones, P. (1999) Technology in the proposed
primary and secondary mathematics curriculum in Hong Kong. In
W.-Ch. Yang, D. Wang, S.-Ch. Chu and G. Fitz-Gerald (eds.) Proceedings
of the Fourth Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics,
December 17-21, 1999, Guangzhou, P.R. China, pp.60-66.
This paper focuses on evaluating the role of technology in the
new primary mathematics curriculum in Hong Kong (implemented in
2003) and secondary mathematics curriculum (implemented in 2001).
A considerable number of difficulties and strategies are
discussed in the implementation of the new curricula,
particularly the use of technology into teaching and learning
mathematics.
Kwok, P.L.-Y., Lam, K.-Y. and Tang, M.-Y. (1999)
Collaborations of three educational parties in leading IT
development in mathematics education. In W.-Ch. Yang, D.
Wang, S.-Ch. Chu and G. Fitz-Gerald (eds.) Proceedings of the
Fourth Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics, December
17-21, 1999, Guangzhou, P.R. China, pp.42-51.
The authors emphasise the importance of the collaborations of
three educational parties, teacher pioneers, curriculum
developers, and academic theorists in the effective improvement
of the application of information technology in mathematics
education in Hong Kong. Pedagogical, teacher-training, and
policy-making problems are highlighted when analysing the lack of
collaboration of these three educational parties. A broad
conception of action research is described and a historical
development of IT during the review of secondary mathematics
syllabus is discussed. An integrated school approach in
regionalising IT culture is suggested and some activities in
which the new approach is used in teaching and learning
mathematics are discussed.
Li, X.-H. (1998) Overview and comment on the use of modern
technology in Shanghai school mathematics. In W.-Ch.
Yang, K. Shirayanagi, S.-Ch. Chu and G. Fitz-Gerald (eds.) Proceedings
of the Third Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics,
August 24-28, 1998, Tsukuba, Japan, pp.142-152.
This paper, based on a small-scale survey of the current
application of modern technology in mathematics education of high
schools in Shanghai, shows the general information of historical
and cultural background of the development of technology in
school mathematics and the current situation of the application
of technology in schools in China. According to the survey
reported in the paper, in Shanghai, school leaders, mathematics
teachers and students as well as parents have mixed opinions
towards the application of technology in mathematics teaching and
learning in schools. For example, school leaders regard financial
fund as the most important factor in the development of the
application of technology in schools, while mathematics teachers
think that they need time to get to know how to effectively use
the technology in class teaching. The author claims that research
projects are needed in this area, in order to enhance the value
of technology in school mathematics development.
Updated: 08 September, 2006