A Systematic Review of Literature on Mathematical Problem Posing in Korea

Abstract

In this systematic literature review, we reviewed 48 original empirical papers focusing on Korean students’ and teachers’ mathematical problem-posing (MPP) in classrooms. All the included papers were published in peer-reviewed mathematics education research journals and located through comprehensive database searches and individual journal searches involving Korean students and teachers. We categorized the papers into two main groups based on the type of participants: 34 students’ MPP papers and 14 teachers’ MPP papers. We further categorized the papers based on the characterization of MPP used: MPP as a construct, intervention, or variable. For students’ MPP papers, most were identified as intervention papers that examined the impacts of MPP interventions on students’ cognitive domains (e.g., problem posing, creativity, problem solving) or affective domains (e.g., attitude, interest). For teachers’ MPP papers, more than half of the papers were identified as documenting teachers’ various types of knowledge related to MPP. This systematic literature review will shed light on the research evidence found by these Korean researchers and how their empirical studies were conducted. It will also help disseminate research evidence regarding Korean students’ and teachers’ MPP internationally.