Identifying Factors Affecting Mathematics Score in the Junior High School Students During Covid-19 Pandemic in Samarinda, Indonesia

Abstract

This research focuses on identifying factors affecting mathematics scores in junior high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Samarinda, Indonesia. We estimate factors of five domains of the mathematics score for e-learning in junior high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The factors are sociodemographic (gender and degree level), students’ habits of accessing the Internet outside online learning, tutoring program, learning platforms (video conferencing, online classes, and social media), and skills of digital literacy (internet searching, knowledge assembly, and content evaluation). A total of 160 students in the junior high school in Samarinda were selected accidentally. An online survey was conducted based on a structured questionnaire. The dummy variables multiple linear regression model was used in this research to identify factors affecting mathematics scores in the junior high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Samarinda. The novelty of this research is in finding the factors that have a significant positive effect on mathematics scores, namely gender (female), tutoring programs, video conferencing platforms, internet searches, and content evaluation. While the factors that have a significant negative effect on the value of mathematics are the habit of accessing the Internet outside online learning and knowledge assembly. Based on these findings, we recommend the teachers to use video conferencing as the best practice for teaching mathematics. As research implications, both teachers and students can discuss improving the students’ digital literacy skills.