Learning Mathematics From Home During COVID-19: Insights From Two Inquiry-Focussed Primary Schools

Abstract

In early 2020, due to the COVD-19 pandemic, Australian schools were closed and students began an unprecedented time of remote learning. The current study aimed to understand how teachers planned and implemented mathematics learning programs for their students, the challenges they encountered, as well as the degree to which their students were motivated or engaged when learning mathematics at home. Two teachers from two Australian primary schools who shared a similar contemporary teaching and learning philosophy emphasising inquiry-based learning were interviewed, and students were surveyed anonymously about their engagement (cognitive, emotional, social and behavioural) when learning mathematics from home. Findings indicated that both teachers were concerned about effectively catering for all students and assessing student progress and engagement with the tasks. Survey data revealed most students displayed positive engagement with remote learning experiences, except for the lack of opportunity to learn mathematics with and from their peers.

Ethno-Flipped Classroom Model: Sebuah Rekomendasi Model Pembelajaran Matematika Di Masa New Normal

“…Mukuka et al, (2021) dalam penelitiannya memaparkan bahwa Zambia menggunakan platform e-learning yang dikembangkan oleh Ministry of General Education (MOGE), portal e-learning interaktif, dan platform revisi cerdas (smart revision platform) yang diberi nama Zambia Telecommunications Company (ZAMTEL) yang bekerja sama dengan Examinations Council of Zambia (EGZ). Selain penggunaan berbagai platform pembelajaran jarak jauh (pembelajaran daring), terdapat pula penggunaan media sosial sebagai bagian dari proses pelaksanaan pembelajaran jarak jauh di masa pandemi Covid-19, diantaranya YouTube (Yaacob & Saad, 2020), aplikasi pesan singkat WhatsApp (Chirinda et al, 2021), aplikasi pesan singkat Telegram (Suryati & Gede Adnyana, 2020), maupun penggunaan aplikasi conference, seperti Zoom Meeting (Kustiyani et al, 2021), Google Meet (Kalogeropoulos et al, 2021), dan lain sebagainya. Penggunaan berbagai platform pembelajaran daring memberikan pengalaman baru baik bagi siswa dalam mengikuti kegiatan pembelajaran, maupun bagi guru dalam mendesain pembelajaran.…”

Primary Teachers Difficulties Related to Compulsory Distance Education During COVID-19

“…It is common for teachers to feel burnout and a loss of their identities as educators. When it came to kids with special needs or those from under-resourced districts, inequalities were exacerbated (Kalogeropoulos et al, 2021). However, there are many difficulties that are outside of this classification and that teachers experience.…”

“…However, it is difficult to say that every student may obtain such help they require during the COVID-19. Australian teachers were concerned that students lacked parental or guardian support for studying (Kalogeropoulos et al, 2021). Teachers provide for such assistance during face-to-face classes, but in distance education, students' parents should assist their children.…”

The Enhancement of Students’ Mathematical Conceptual Understanding Through RADEC Learning Model

“…Another factor supporting the enhancement of students' MCU in RADEC learning is the Discuss and Explain activity which provides opportunities to learn from peers collaboratively as an information acquisition that is valued by students even though it is only through virtual face-to-face discussions relying on the Zoom Cloud Meetings Breakout Room feature. It should be emphasized that discussions in RADEC learning are different from discussions in direct learning where in RADEC learning students already have the provision of information obtained through pre-learning activities (Read-Answer) so that they are consistent with collaborative mathematical work in the collaborative mathematical groups (Galton & Williamson, 2005;Kalogeropoulos et al, 2021). Strictly, RADEC learning at the Discuss-Explain-Create stage is consistent with the sociocultural theory that cognitive development in students can be maximized through interaction with their social environment armed with an adequate actual development zone which was previously built at the Read-Answer stage.…”