The change of the method in mathematics education with TI-82 in Japan.

Japanese school system

Japanese think that education is very important to make a good society. So we had schools Terakoya at Edo (200 years ago), and 100 years ago we built up many elementary schools in all areas. Parents have thought that children must go to school everyday. The percentage of school attendance is high: Kindergarten 84%, Elementary School 100%, Junior high school 100%, High School 98%, and University 47%. We think that the Japanese economic growth is the consequence of school education.

In Japan, Elementary School and Junior High School are compulsory. Some pupils take the entrance examination to the Private Junior high school. If they do not go to the Private Junior High School, they can enter the Public School with no examination. But many parents want their children to go into a good private school. Since calculators have not been allowed in entrance examinations, they are not used either in the mathematics classroom in elementary and junior high school.

The Japanese government decides the curriculum for all levels through what is called the course of study. All teachers teach same content to their pupils and use the same textbooks which have to be approved by the Ministry of Education. Japanese teachers have a good idea of how to teach mathematics without calculators. However, calculator use has become compulsory, and now we must use the calculator at 5th year mathematics lesson at the Elementary School. This change may make the new mathematics education in Japan.

Watanabe - 2 OCT 1996



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Gómez, P. & Waits, B. (Eds.) (1996). Roles of calculators in the classroom.

Mail comments to Pedro Gómez: pgomez@uniandes.edu.co