Japanese Mathematics Curriculum Outcomes

Abstract

Abstract This study was designed to determine the perceptions of five concerned groups about the outcomes for the elementary school mathematics curriculum in Japan. The outcomes and a Likert-type scale were submitted to the following concerned groups: (a) elementary school mathematics teachers; (b) elementary school principals; (c) mathematics educators; (d) professors of education; and (e) scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. The list of outcomes contained 71 statements of outcomes expected to result from the study of mathematics. These were based on the four major headings of (a) general skills; (b) attitude, interests, and appreciations; (c) knowledge; and (d) intellectual abilities and skills. The ordinal ranks were determined by mean ratings of each outcome for each group. Nine outcomes were ranked by all concerned groups in the first quartile. Twenty-three other outcomes were ranked by one or more concerned groups in the first quartile. The correlation of perceptions between each pair of the c...