Matrix had been deleted from the national curriculum of Korea due to the reduction of learning burden, but it was recently suggested that matrix should be included again in the national curriculum as a part of restructuring future-oriented learning contents for the age of intelligence in the course of the research for 2022 revised mathematics curriculum. In relation to this suggestion, the items involving matrix in the past college scholastic ability tests of Korea were pointed out as a problem. As the matrix items have been criticized for the high level of difficulty due to demand of specific operation of matrix and overfull calculation proficiency, the need for discussion on improvement of assessment of matrix was proposed. The purpose of this study is to compare matrix items from various countries and find a way to improve assessment of matrix with focus on whether the mathematical thinking and mathematical modelling ability could be considered in the assessment of matrix in a balanced way. To this purpose, the cognitive levels of matrix items in college scholastic ability tests of Korea, and exams for senior secondary certificate of Australia, England, France were investigated and compared with each other. The result show that Korea has the highest percentage of the Connection item while the Reflection item accounts for the highest percentage for the other three nations. It was also found that most of Reflection items of Korea focused on the assessment of performing calculation process, but Reflection items of Australia, England and France assessed a variety of cognitive elements containing Integrating, Justifying and Modeling. The results suggest a way in which matrix could be assessed meaningfully in a variety of cognitive levels and cognitive elements as an alternative to calculation-focused assessment.

The national mathematics curriculum revision process is underway in the background of the era where rapid technological development, uncertainty and volatility are expanded. In this process, consideration of matrix as a learning content emerged as one of the key issues, and conflicts among diverse educational participants are escalating. This study attempted to obtain implications for revising the presentation of matrix in textbooks by comparing the perspectives reflected in mathematics textbooks in Korea, Singapore, and Australia. First, the study compared and analyzed the learning contents, concept introduction and contents development methods in the textbooks from the three countries, and found that Korean textbooks cover more learning elements and tend to focus on calculation, while the other two textbooks from Singapore and Australia value the meaning of matrix as a useful means of expressing data. In addition, the results of comparing tasks based on the cognitive level framework developed by integrating the TIMSS cognitive domain and Jan de Lange’s framework showed that more than 80% of the tasks included in the Korean textbooks remained at the level of reproduction and connection, while Singapore and Australian textbooks provided various opportunities to learn such as making conjecture, justification and mathematical modeling through 70% and 45% of the tasks at the level of reflection, respectively. Drawing on the implications from the analysis, it is suggested to have fewer focus on content elements and more emphasis on conceptual understanding, mathematical reasoning, and mathematical modeling rather than calculation.

An optical brain-machine interface (O-BMI) system using calcium imaging has various advantages such as high resolution, a comprehensive view of large neural populations, abilities such as long-term stable recording, and applicability to freely behaving animals in neuroscience research. The present study developed an ergonomic user interface (UI) design, based on a use scenario for an O-BMI system that can be used for the acquisition and processing of calcium imaging in freely behaving rodents. The UI design was developed in three steps: (1) identification of design and function requirements of users, (2) establishment of a use scenario, and (3) development of a UI prototype. The UI design requirements were identified by a literature review, a benchmark of existing systems, and a focus group interview with five neuroscience researchers. Then, the use scenario was developed for tasks of data acquisition, feature extraction, and neural decoding for offline and online processing by considering the sequences of operations and needs of users. Lastly, a digital prototype incorporating an information architecture, graphic user interfaces, and simulated functions was fabricated. A usability test was conducted with five neuroscientists (work experience = 3.4 ± 1.1 years) and five ergonomic experts (work experience = 3.6 ± 2.7 years) to compare the digital prototypes with four existing systems (Miniscope, nVista, Mosaic, and Suite2p). The usability testing results showed that the ergonomic UI design was significantly preferred to the UI designs of the existing systems by reducing the task completion time by 10.1% to 70.2% on average, the scan path length by 14.4% to 88.7%, and perceived workload by 12.2% to 37.9%, increasing satisfaction by 11.3% to 74.3% in data acquisition and signal-extraction tasks. The present study demonstrates the significance of the user-centered design approach in the development of a system for neuroscience research. Further research is needed to validate the usability test results of the UI prototype as a corresponding real system is implemented.