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In this paper, characteristics of mathematics classrooms in the East Asian countries1 of Hong Kong and Japan are discussed based on an analysis of the data of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. The data shows that although students in these East Asian countries did not talk a lot in the classroom, they were exposed to more instructional content. The mathematics problems they worked on were set up mainly using mathematical language, and compared with the problems solved by students in other countries, the problems took a longer duration to solve and more proof was involved. According to the judgement of an expert panel on the Hong Kong lessons (Japan did not participate in this part of the study), more advanced contents were covered and the lessons were more coherent. The mathematics presentations were more developed, and the students were more likely to be engaged in the lessons. In sum, the overall quality of the teaching in this East Asian country was judged to be high. The findings show that high quality teaching and learning can take place even in a teacher directed classroom. It is argued that these East Asian classroom practices are deeply rooted in the underlying cultural values of the classroom and the wider society. The paper ends by drawing some implications of the study for the mathematics education community in other cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of students' problem-posing abilities in mathematics has been emphasized in the K-12 curricula in the USA and China. There are claims that problem-posing activities are helpful in developing creative approaches to mathematics. At the same time, there are also claims that students' mathematical content knowledge could be highly related to creativity in mathematics, too. This paper reports on a study that investigated USA and Chinese high school students' mathematical content knowledge, their abilities in mathematical problem posing, and the relationships between students' mathematical content knowledge and their problem-posing abilities in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the current situation of the popular Chinese university education, points out the impact of popularized Chinese higher education on its university mathematics education, and presents the actualities and existing problems of university mathematics education research in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the perceived parental influence (PPI) on mathematics learning among over 700 students across three year levels (Years 5, 7, 9) in China and Australia. It was found that the PPI of students was less strong as year levels increased in both countries. Students in China had stronger perceived parental encouragement and higher perceived parental educational expectation than students in Australia. The PPI of students from different home language backgrounds was also investigated. Students in China demonstrated stronger perceived parental encouragement and parental expectation than English speaking students and other language speaking students in Australia, and they also demonstrated stronger perceived parental expectation than Chinese speaking students in Australia, and similar perceived parental encouragement. Within the three groups of students in Australia, Chinese speaking students and other language speaking students demonstrated similar levels of perceived parental encouragement and expectation, but they both demonstrated a higher level of perceived parental encouragement and expectation than English speaking students. Possible reasons for the similarities and differences between the different groups of students were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature, problem-posing abilities are reported to be an important aspect/indicator of creativity in mathematics. The importance of problem-posing activities in mathematics is emphasized in educational documents in many countries, including the USA and China. This study was aimed at exploring high school students' creativity in mathematics by analyzing their problem-posing abilities in geometric scenarios. The participants in this study were from one location in the USA and two locations in China. All participants were enrolled in advanced mathematical courses in the local high school. Differences in the problems posed by the three groups are discussed in terms of quality (novelty/elaboration) as well as quantity (fluency). The analysis of the data indicated that even mathematically advanced high school students had trouble posing good quality and/or novel mathematical problems. We discuss our findings in terms of the culture and curricula of the respective school systems and suggest implications for future directions in problem-posing research within mathematics education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the roles of variation problems ('one problem multiple solution' and 'one problem multiple changes') as used in Chinese textbooks. It is argued that variation problems as an 'indigenous' Chinese practice aim to discern and to compare the invariant feature of the relationship among concepts and solutions. This practice also aims to provide opportunities for making connections, since comparison is considered the pre-condition to perceive the structures, dependencies, and relationships that may lead to mathematical abstraction. In the first part of the article, the 'indigenous' practice is discussed against its philosophical Daoism and Confucianism backgrounds. To grasp its distinctiveness, a comparison between Chinese and American textbooks is carried out. In the second part of the article, the focus is on the manner in which fraction division is articulated in an important Chinese textbook. A framework to understand variation practice is introduced and some educational implications are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]