What Primary Students in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan Value in Mathematics Learning: A Comparative Analysis

Values and Valuing in Mathematics Education

“…That is, students choosing to study mathematics at the higher secondary school levels might be too preoccupied by the need to perform in examinations that the valuing of mathematics being relevant could be diluted somewhat. On the whole, this study complements the findings of Zhang et al (2016), which highlights how student values can and do change during the schooling years and provides examples of values change initiatives which are effective.…”

“…Similarly, Anthony (2013) found that Pāsifika students valued a social arrangement in the classroom, which suited their collaborative ways of learning. This contrasts with research from Asia (e.g., Law et al 2011;Zhang et al 2016) which demonstrated an absence of collaborative mathematics values from East Asian students, and also research from Sweden (Seah and Peng 2012) that highlighted Swedish middle school students valuing independent working due to their perception that listening to their peers' conflicting strategies was confusing rather than helpful.…”

“…Data for the study were collected using the validated WIFI questionnaire . A translation and back translation method together with factor analysis was used for metric equivalence checks in the Chinese context Zhang et al 2016). The questionnaire consists of four sections: a 5-point Likert scale consisting of 64 items (section A); 10 items with continuous dimensions (section B); an open-ended scenario-stimulated section (section C); and questions eliciting the students' demographic and personal information (section D).…”

“…In Japan, fifth grade students tended to value process, effort, exploration, fact, openness and progress, whereas ninth grade students tended to value product, ability, exposition, idea, mystery, and control (Shinno et al 2014) suggesting students' values can change over time. Zhang et al (2016) reported on primary students' values in mathematics learning from the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It was found that six value components formed the value structure.…”

Relationship between pre-service mathematics teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and instructional practices in China

“…Therefore, the modern mathematics movement did not exert any influence on the development of mathematics education in Mainland China. Basic mathematics skills and traditional mathematics topics such as Euclidean geometry have kept their relevance until now (Zhang et al 2016). Right after the establishment of The People's Republic of China in 1949, mathematics textbooks used in Mainland China were adopted directly from the former Soviet Union.…”