A Comparative Study Of Problem-posing In Primary Mathematics Textbooks In China And The United States

Problem posing is one of the focus of current education research. It is an important way for students to develop creative ability. As the forefront of mathematics teaching, mathematics textbooks directly affects the teaching of teachers and the learning of students. Therefore, it is very important to research the writing of problem posing in textbooks. This study compared the editing of problem-posing in mathematics textbooks in primary school between China and the United States, found the advantages and shortcomings of our textbooks, then put forward some improvement opinions.Study selected primary school mathematics textbooks developed by the university of Chicago school mathematics project--Everyday Mathematics (UCSMP textbooks)、 published by People’s Education Press(PEP textbooks) and published by Beijing Normal University Press(BNU textbooks) as the object. Through the comparison of static text found the differences of problem posing among this three versions textbooks.The study found that there are main differences in editing of problem-posing among three versions of mathematics textbooks in primary school in China and the United States. Differences mainly lies in the following aspects.Firstly, the number of problem and problem posing, American UCSMP textbooks writes problems far more than Chinese, and the number of questions for each grade showed a rising trend. Relative to the number of problems in the textbook, written in the three versions of problem posing are less. The number of problem posing in American textbooks more than Chinese, but the percentage of problem posing is lower than Chinese. And The number of problem posing in grade1-3of UCSMP textbooks are more than in grade4-6, while China is the opposite.Secondly, the categories of problem posing. All categories of problem posing in the three versions textbooks are uneven. Chinese textbooks stresses finding problems or posing problems from the given situation, yet American emphasize more on students posing problems that fits a given operation, they pay attention to students’ understanding of the relationship between formula and practical situation.Thirdly, There also showed differences in the field and teaching link of the posing problem among the three versions, but in the field of "numbers and algebra" both Chinese and American textbooks have a higher proportion and less proportion in intersectional fields. American pay attention to the problem posing in classroom teaching and after-school exercises, but China pay more attention to the problem posing in after-school exercises, fewer problem posing in classroom teaching. The last but not least, American textbooks showed more determiners when the posing problem with a certain requirements.Based on the above differences, and integrated the advantages of each version textbooks, the researchers suggest that, China primary mathematics textbooks could pay more attention on the follows:improve the proportion of problem posing appropriately; balance the categories of problem posing; adjust the problem-posing of knowledge in different fields and teaching link; increase the number of determiners in problem-posing effectively.