Mathematics Classroom Activities of Selected East Asian and Non-Asian Countries From the Views of Teachers and Students

East Asian countries have achieved high levels of mathematics competency. This study investigated classroom activities of East Asian countries based on the idea that different learning experiences lead to gaps in academic outcomes.

The main purposes of this study were: (1) to identify the features of classroom activities in the four East Asian countries of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea and the two non-Asian countries of Hungary and England, (2) to determine whether or not there are predominant features of classroom activities shared in East Asia, and (3) to verify whether or not the perceptions of classroom activities between teachers and students are consistent with each other.

The data was gathered from the Student Questionnaire and the Teacher Questionnaire in TIMSS 2007. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's chi-square tests were employed to examine classroom activities in the six countries. The results indicated that, compared to traditional mathematics activities, the activities related to reform mathematics were not more likely to be deemphasized in each East Asian country. Also, with respect to reformed mathematics activities, all East Asian countries did not necessarily emphasize them less than the two non-Asian countries. Furthermore, in the frequencies of all ten activities, statistically significant differences existed between all six countries as well as within the East Asian countries. Lastly, it was found that in numerous instances, there were differences in perceptions of classroom activities between teachers and students within a country.

Based on the findings, this study suggested not to regard educational practice in East Asia as traditional and to over-simplify it by the label 'East Asian style.' However, further studies are needed on various aspects of classroom practice, except for classroom activities, in East Asia. In addition, this study argued that both the views of students and teachers should be considered together in the study for educational practice. Moreover, it is suggested that future studies investigate the relationships of discrepancies between teachers and students with students' learning and achievement.