Supporting mathematical literacy: examples from a cross-curricular project

Abstract

Mathematical literacy implies the capacity to apply mathematical knowledge to various and contextrelated problems in a functional, flexible and practical way. Improving mathematical literacy requires a learning environment that stimulates students cognitively as well as allowing them to collect practical experiences through connections with the real world. In order to achieve this, students should be confronted with many different facets of reality. They should be given the opportunity to participate in carrying out experiments, to be exposed to verbal argumentative discussions and to be involved in modelbuilding activities. This leads to the idea of integrating science into maths education. Two sequences of lessons were developed and tried out at the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd integrating scientific topics and methods into maths lessons at German secondary schools. The results show that the scientific activities and their connection with reality led to well-based discussions. The connection between the phenomenon and the model remained remarkably close during the entire series of lessons. At present the sequences of lessons are integrated in the European ScienceMath project, a joint project between universities and schools in Denmark, Finland, Slovenia and Germany (see www.sciencemath.ph-gmuend.de).

Virtual Mathematics Kits (VMK): Connecting Digital Media to Mathematical Literacy

“…However, the research was conducted at higher school levels and has not been based on the ability of elementary school students. Research on mathematics literacy in elementary schools is mostly done using scientific learning models with concrete media [12]- [14]. However, there has not been any use of technology in the model and media used.…”

Virtual Mathematics Kits (Vmk): Mempromosikan Media Digital Dalam Literasi Matematika

“…Temuan penelitian ini menyatakan bahwa VMK dapat memberikan bantuan bagi siswa dalam menyelesaikan permasalahan matematis. Berbeda dengan penggunaan benda-benda kongkrit dalam pembelajaran literasi matematika (Gatabi, Stacey, & Gooya, 2012;Hofer & Beckmann, 2009), VMK membuat objek matematika dapat dimanipulasi. Objek matematika menjadi bersifat dinamis.…”

“…Aktivitas ini didesain sebagai kegiatan ekstrakurikuler. Berbeda dengan integrasi literasi matematika dalam pembelajaran (Firdaus & Herman, 2017;Hofer & Beckmann, 2009;Sumirattana et al, 2017), kegiatan ini bebas dari objektif pembelajaran matematika di kelas. Hal itu membuat aktivitas literasi matematika dapat fokus pada tujuan atau objektif-objektif kemampuan literasi matematika (OECD, 2012).…”

“…Namun, penelitian tersebut dilakukan pada jenjang sekolah yang lebih tinggi dan belum berdasar pada kemampuan siswa sekolah dasar. Penelitian mengenai literasi matematika pada sekolah dasar kebanyakan dilakukan menggunakan model-model pembelajaran saintifik dengan media kongkrit (Hofer & Beckmann, 2009;Mumcu, 2016;Sumirattana, Makanong, & Thipkong, 2017). Akan tetapi, belum ada penggunaan teknologi dalam model dan media yang digunakan.…”

Primary Students’ Mathematical Literacy: A Case Study

“…Furthermore, Wijaya, van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Doorman, & Robitzsch (2014) pointed that Indonesian secondary students mostly experienced difficulties in the early stages of solving PISA tasks, namely understanding the meaning of a problem and transforming a word problem into an appropriate mathematical problem. In terms of in European countries, Höfer & Beckmann (2009) discussed the supporting mathematical literacy which were applied in several schools in Denmark, Finland, Slovenia and Germany. The supporting model that delivered to those several European countries was believed to suit to the local situation.…”