A Comparative Analysis of Elementary Mathematics Textbooks on the Concepts of Ratio and Rate

This study aims to analyze how the concepts of ratio and rate are addressed in elementary mathematics textbooks from South Korea, Singapore, and Japan. To this end, the study examines how the meaning of ratio is treated through the process of unitizing a quantity, and how equivalent relations are addressed both within and between measure spaces, from the perspectives of multiple-batches and variable-parts. Based on the results of the analysis, the study suggests improvements including: emphasizing the process of unitizing one quantity to represent another and highlighting the meaning of “times” or multiples; introducing the variable-parts perspective; teaching equivalent relationships within measure spaces using both perspectives; teaching equivalent relationships between measure spaces using the variable-parts perspective; and restructuring instructional approaches to the concept of rate in the context of external ratio.