Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe characteristics of thinking in elementary gifted students' solutions to algebraic tasks. Especially, this paper was focused on the students' strategies to develop generalization while problem solving, the justifications on the generalization and metacognitive thinking emerged in stildents' problem solving process. To find these issues, a case study was conducted. The subjects of this study were four 6th graders in elementary school-they were all receiving education for the gifted in an academy for the gifted attached to a university. Major findings of this study are as follows: First, during the process of the task solving, the students varied in their use of generalization strategies and utilized more than one generalization strategy, and the students also moved from one strategy toward other strategies, trying to reach generalization. In addition, there are some differences of appling the same type of strategy between students. In a case of reaching a generalization, students were asked to justify their generalization. Students' justification types were different in level. However, there were some potential abilities that lead to higher level although students' justification level was in empirical step. Second, the students utilized their various knowledges to solve the challengeable and difficult tasks. Some knowledges helped students, on the contrary some knowledges made students struggled. Specially, metacognitive knowledges of task were noticeably. Metacognitive skills; 'monitoring', 'evaluating', 'control' were emerged at any time. These metacognitive skills played a key role in their task solving process, led to students justify their generalization, made students keep their task solving process by changing and adjusting their strategies.

본 연구는 4명의 초등학교 5학년 수학영재들이 주어진 대수 과제를 해결하는 과정에서 나타나는 일반화 전략과 그에 대한 정당화의 특성을 살펴보고, 그러한 과정에서 나타난 메타인지적 사고 특성을 분석한 연구이다. 문헌 검토를 통해 일반화 전략 정당화의 유형과 메타인지적 사고를 위한 분석틀을 마련하고 학생들의 다양한 반응들을 분석하였다. 일반화 과정에서 학생들은 과제가 내포한 복합적인 관계나 순환적인 관계를 다양한 경로로 파악했고, 이 관계를 토대로 일반식을 이끌어냈다. 이러한 일반화에 대한 정당화 유형은 대부분 경험적 정당화와 형식적 정당화의 수준을 보여주었다. 메타인지적 사고의 특성에서 학생들은 자신이 보유한 지식을 복합적으로 동원하였고, 이러한 지식을 과제와 연결시키기 위하여 메타인지적 기능 영역인 '감시', '평가', '제어'와 같은 행동들을 수시로 발현시켰다. 감시, 평가, 제어의 사고과정은 학생들이 과제의 새로운 조건을 파악하게 하는 원동력이 되었고, 자신의 사고과정을 점검함으로써 특정한 사례들에 대한 값을 정당화하게 하며, 전략을 수정 변경하면서 해결과정을 지속적으로 이끌어나가게 했다.

Keywords

• mathematically gifted students;
• algebraic thinking;
• generalization;
• students' strategies;
• justification;
• metacognition

• 수학영재;
• 대수적 사고;
• 일반화;
• 전략;
• 정당화;
• 메타인지;