Frankfurt am Main, BlackCoffeePost. The MathCityMap-Project (www.mathcitymap.eu) provides opportunities for students to engage with math in math trails supported by GPS-enabled smartphones (Jesberg&Ludwig, 2012). Students use the app to receive tasks and know coordinates, routes, tools needed, and hints on demand. They solve tasks on site and enter their answers into the app. Thus, teachers get feedback by the system. The goal of this project is to challenge students to solve tasks and to make them enjoy learning. It may manifest motivation. A meta-analysis found that both, outdoor programs and motivation have a strong impact on achievement (Hattie, 2009).This paper is a report from a pilot project study which aims to explore needs and conditions of math education in Indonesia, particularly in Semarang, in order to develop the MathCityMap-Project for Indonesia (the MCM-Indonesia). It was motivated by the low Indonesian students’ achievement. The question was‘how can the MCM-Indonesia promote the motivation of student?’
In PISA 2012, 75.7% of Indonesian students did not reach the baseline level 2 in mathematics. In the national exam, the proportion of Semarang secondary school students who were able to solve problems related to area, volume, and angle was below 50%. To get more in depth information, discussion was conducted involving 4experts and 10 mathematics teachers from Semarang secondary schools. The topic was about designing the MCM-Indonesia by considering teaching experiences cross checked with theoretical reviews, and based on data and previous researches.First results show that students have difficulties in solving real problems, particularly in geometry. They cannot extract relevant information and use basic algorithms to solve tasks.It is known in Indonesia that most of the students have low motivation in learning math. They fear math and assume that math classes are boring. Building upon Hattie’s results (Hattie 2009), outdoor tasks may have a positive impact on that issue. Settings need to be varied, such as outdoor learning and using advanced technology. The tasks are designed with focus on the subject geometry for 8th graders during 2nd semester (dry season). The tasks are located around the school district area so they are easily accessed by students. Students work in groups using the MCM-app. Findings indicate that the MathCityMap-Project with special features can be implemented in Indonesia to improve students’ motivation. The challenge of solving tasks and the joys of discovering math in real context with the aid of smartphones might raise motivation and the effectiveness of MCM-Indonesia to increase students’ achievement can be proved at the next stage. In the presentation, further results will be discussed in detail.
References
Hattie, J. A. C. (2009). Visible Learning. New York: Routledge.
Jesberg, J., & Ludwig, M. (2012).MathCityMap-Make mathematical experiences in out-of-school activities using mobile technology.Proc. ICME-12(pp.1024-1031).
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Cahyono, A.N., & Ludwig, M. (2014) Designing The MathCityMap-Project for Indoensia. Presented at the 38th Meeting of International Group for Psychology of Mathematics Education, 15-20 July 2014, Vancouver, Canada.