Math Education in South Korea YONGJIN SONG Inha

Math Education in South Korea YONGJIN SONG Inha University Vice President of KMS Chairman, KMO Committee Tomsk State University 11 October, 2018

Education System of South Korea • South Korea Population: 52 million About 40% of the whole population live in Seoul or its neighboring cities. • School System Primary School 6 years Middle School 3 years High School 3 years • The education has always been a big issue, may be the second greatest social issue, next to economy. • For students it is very competitive to enter good universities.

High Competition • There is high education fever in Korea as in some other East Asian countries, like Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. • For high school graduates there are various ways to enter colleges, for example, (1) Taking the National Exam for entering colleges (2) Counting high school records, various activities and project studies (3) Taking a math exam or writing exam of each university ※ Each year about 600, 000 students graduate from high schools, about 500, 000 students enter universities or colleges. There about 200 four-year universities and about 130 various colleges.

Main issues in Education • In principle there are no entrance exams for high schools, but there are some special high schools admitting only excellent students, like science high schools, foreign language high schools, international schools etc. • The issue of private lessons outside schools is a major one. People believe it causes unfairness and big economic burden for parents. • In order to enter better schools, students and parents work hard. The government tries to reduce the study burden of students. • The birth rate(1. 05) is one of the lowest in the world. Now every year only 350, 000 babies are born and the number is expected to be decreasing quickly.

Basic Policy of Education Department • The government wants to reduce a few things (1) Reduce the study burden of middle school and high school students (2) Reduce the private lessons outside schools (3) Reduce the number of new students entering universities Especially in mathematics, they want to reduce the contents in mathematics textbooks. In the past thirty years the contents have been reduced into half, in order to make ‘easy mathematics. ’ Basic set theory, complicated factorization of equations, some features of functions, complex plane and functions, matrices, several important theorems and concepts in calculus have been eliminated.

New Math Curriculum starting in 2018 New Curriculum of High School 11 grade Common Math (For two semester) 12, 13 grade General Choices Professional Choices Math I Geometry Math II Economy Math Calculus Practical Math Probability & Statistics Math Project Study

The Content of Common Math Subject Chapters Sections Product of polynomials Remainder theorem Factorization Symbols and Equations Complex numbers and quadratic equations Quadratic equations and quadratic functions Various inequalities Math (2 semesters) Number of Cases Functions Number of cases Permutations and combinations Functions Rational functions Irrational functions Coordinate plane Equations of Figures Equations of lines Equations of circles Move of figures

The Content of General Choice Subjects General Choices Subjects Chapters Exponential and logarithmic functions Math I Trigonometric functions Applications of trigonometric functions Limit of sequences Math II Limit and continuity of functions Integration of polynomials Limits and continuity of functions Calculus Differentiation Integration Probability & Statistics Permutation and combination Probability distribution and statistics

The Content of Professional Choice subjects Professional Choices Subjects Chapters Quadratic curves Geometry Plane vectors Space figures and space coordinates Numbers and economical life Economy Math Sequences and finance Functions and economical problems Differentiation and economical problems Patterns Space figures and space coordinates Practical Math Changes Uncertainty Remodeling Math Project Study Meaning of project study Practice and evaluation of project study

Science High Schools in Korea • There are 28 science high schools in total; 20 ordinary science high schools and 8 science academies. The official name of the latter is ‘science school for the gifted. ’ The level of science academy students is in general higher than science high school. • Twenty Science high schools admit 1636 new students each year, and eight science academies admit 858 students in total. • The nationwide best students are being concentrated at a single school, Seoul Science Academy. Recently all six IMO contestants are of this school. • All students stay at dormitories.

Science High School vs Science Academy Science High School Science Academy No entry exam. Count only middle school records of mathematics and science Admit new students through three competitions including two-day exams Can admit only regional middle school graduates Can admit any students regardless of their regions and grades Students can enter universities after 2 years(11 th grade) No early graduation is allowed Budget is mainly supported by regional government Budget is supported by both central and regional governments, much greater than that of ordinary science high school Curriculum is rigid Curriculum is flexible. Students can choose many subjects they want to take, for example, linear algebra, number theory and advanced calculus

Education system for the gifted • Education for the gifted in science is supported by the Ministry of Science and Tech. On the other hand, ordinary school education is supported by the Ministry of Education. • There are 27 Science Education Centers established inside universities which teach 6 th and 8 th grade students. These centers are supported by the Ministry of Science and Tech. About 5500 students are being educated in these centers during weekends and summer & winter vacations. • There are various types of science education centers and classes supported by local governments, and also by the Ministry of Education.

International Math Olympiad(IMO) • South Korean team has been participating in IMO since 1988. • It has been one of the strongest teams since 1999, but mainly 4 th or 5 th in rank until 2011. • Since 2012, Korean team has been in the same level as the best teams, like USA and China. Ranks of South Korean team at IMO Ranks 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 7 th 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 7 th 2 nd 1 st

Asian Pacific Math Olympiad • APMO results for 5 years Ranks 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 Korea 320 USA 295 Korea 315 USA 298 Korea 244 USA 306 Korea 294 Russia 294 Korea 279 USA 231 Japan 254 Thai 270 USA 269 Russia 266 Russia 218 Singapore 231 Japan 264 Singapore 238 Singapore 259 Brazil 179 Canada 220 Russia 263 Iran 222 Canada 256 Thai 175 Russia 210 Iran 253 Japan 216 Thai 237 Japan 174

For a genius, the gift is just a necessary condition If a student had the best gift in 1000 students, his/her gift would be good enough. Out of one million people there a thousand of such students. To become the best in a million people, the gift is no more an important factor. More important factors than the gift are: 1. • • • His/Her character; Like to focus on one subject he/she likes Not fond of playing around with friends Has a strong winning desire 2. Circumstances; • Good teachers, friends and family members • Good experiences and memories

Modern era is scientific embryonic period • Science started to change human life style only 250 years ago. Considering the long history of human evolution, we may say that we are now living in the embryonic (or primitive) period of science. • Science has a long time to go, even millions of years! • Mathematics has been developed over thousands years, hence has gone further in front than the other modern science subjects. - We do not have to worry about how and for what we can exploit contemporary mathematics, because it will be exploited some time in the future as science progresses.

Mathematics is unique academic subject in the world which has been developed for thousands years, accumulating its knowledge.

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