Impact of remote experimentation, interactivity and platform effectiveness on laboratory learning outcomes

Access and personalized instruction required for laboratory education can be highly compromised due to regulatory constraints in times such as COVID-19 pandemic or resource shortages at other times. This directly impacts the student engagement and immersion that are necessary for conceptual and procedural understanding for scientific experimentation. While online and remote laboratories have potential to address the aforementioned challenges, theoretical perspectives of laboratory learning outcomes are critical to enhance their impact and are sparsely examined in the literature. Using Transactional Distance Theory (TDT), this paper addresses the gap through a case study on Universal Testing Machine (UTM). By comparing physical (PL-UTM) and remotely triggerable (RT-UTM) laboratory platforms, the structure and interactions as per TDT are analysed. Characterization of interactivity between remote learners and instructors disclose indicative parameters that affect transactional distances and aid in conceptual understanding in remote laboratory learning environment. An extensive pedagogical study through development of two instruments towards assessing conceptual understanding and perception of platform effectiveness that was conducted both on physical laboratory and RT-UTM showed: (1) remote users conducted experiments 3 times more frequently (2) completed assignments in 30% less time and (3) had over 200% improvement in scores when RT-UTM platform was integrated into mainstream learning.

An Identification of Conceptual and Procedural Understanding: Study on Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teacher

Preservice mathematics teachers (PSMTs) need to master teaching material besides pedagogical competence. This knowledge is a combination of conceptual and procedural knowledge. Teachers should possess the ability to explain a concept, the reason for the concepts used, and the relationship among several concepts clearly and effectively to identify why the concept is used. This study aimed to identify the conceptual and procedural knowledge of PSMTs in Linear Algebra courses. Data collection was carried out through tests and interviews. The interview was conducted with several participants to clarify their test answers. The participants' interview answers revealed that they had difficulty in choosing the proper concept answering modified questions. Also, the participants tried to answer the question using a procedural approach. According to the findings, it is vital to construct appropriate teaching materials appropriate for the learning objective and material map concept.

Kesalahan Siswa SMK dalam Menyelesaikan Soal Program Linier Ditinjau dari Pemahaman Konseptual dan Prosedural

This research aims to describe the mistake of vocational student in solving linier program question in term of conceptual and procedural understanding. The research was conducted at SMKN I Boyolangu Tulungagung. Subject was chosen based on the highest number of mistakes when completing linier program question. Data collection techniques in this research are test and interview. The instruments used in this research were the main instrument and supporting instrument. The main instrument is the researcher itself, while the supporting instrument are the test sheet and interview guidelines. To test the data validity in this research used time triangulation. Data analysis based on indicator of conceptual and procedural understanding that include data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawing. The result of this study indicate that students who make mistake do not have a good conceptual and procedural understanding. This can be seen from subject cannot explain how to solve the question. In addition, subject cannot continue the answer because subject do not know the next step that must be done. Subject alsocan not explain the steps in solving linier program question. For this reason, teacher need to pay attention to students’ understanding when learning in class, especially conceptual and procedural understanding. In addition, teacher mut choose or design a conceptual learning design and procedural understanding to achieve the learning objective.

Experiencing Students' Difficulties in Learning Abstract Algebra

This paper aims to reveal the difficulties as experienced by graduate students while learning abstract algebra at master's degree in mathematics education in the first month of their enrollment. For, I adopted a case study of five students, interviewed them with the help of interview guidelines and observed their behaviors in the classroom, and triangulated this information with researcher’s experiences to explore the difficulties in learning abstract algebra. I used inductive method to analyze the information and concluded that graduate students have experienced several difficulties in learning abstract algebra including the difficulties in conceptualizing algebraic facts, constructing examples and non-examples; and proving theorems. Finally, the study suggests that graduate teaching need to focus on conceptual and procedural understanding of students, and emphasizing to construct examples and non-example as much as possible to improve students’ learning.

The Effects of Algebraic Equation Solving Intervention for Students With Mathematics Learning Difficulties

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of algebraic equation solving intervention for sixth graders with mathematics learning difficulties (MD). A total of 48 students with MD were randomly assigned to either the algebraic equation solving intervention, Mystery Math ( n = 24) or control condition ( n = 24). The multicomponent intervention was based on the principles of explicit instruction and focused on improving conceptual and procedural knowledge of algebraic equation solving using concrete manipulatives. Students in the intervention group received instruction in pairs, 30 min per session, 3 sessions per week for 5 weeks (i.e., 15 sessions). The results indicated that the main effect of intervention was significant for 2 proximal measures of mathematics vocabulary, and conceptual and procedural understanding of algebraic equation solving with large effect sizes. However, the main effect of intervention was not significant for distal measures of comprehensive pre-algebra skills and whole-number computations. The findings demonstrate that grade-level standards can be successfully taught to students with MD. Implications for practice are discussed.

Proses Berpikir Siswa dalam Menyelesaikan Soal Higher Order Thinking Skills Berdasarkan Pemahaman Konseptual dan Prosedural

<div align="center"><table width="645" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="439"><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> This study aims to describe the thinking process of students in solving <em>Higher Order Thinking Skills</em> problems based on conceptual and procedural understanding. This type of research is descriptive research. The subject of this study was the eighth-grade students of Ma’arif 3 Islamic Middle School Malang. The results of the study were obtained (1) Based on the conceptual understanding of the subject did not meet the indicators presenting concepts in various forms of mathematics, but fulfilling the indicators rewrite the concepts that had been studied and could apply the concepts algorithmically. (2) Based on procedural understanding the subject meets the indicators of choosing the right procedure in solving the problem, but it is not appropriate to know when and how to use the procedure and apply the procedure chosen to solve the problem.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Abstrak:</strong><em> </em>Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan proses berpikir siswa dalam menyelesaikan soal <em>Higher Order Thinking Skills</em> berdasarkan pemahaman konseptual dan prosedural. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif. Subjek penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas VIII SMP Islam Ma’arif 3 Malang. Hasil penelitian diperoleh (1) berdasarkan pemahaman konseptual subjek belum memenuhi indikator mempresentasikan konsep dalam berbagai bentuk matematika, tetapi memenuhi indikator menuliskan kembali konsep yang telah dipelajari dan dapat menerapkan konsep secara algoritma; (2) berdasarkan pemahaman prosedural subjek memenuhi indikator memilih prosedur yang tepat dalam menyelesaikan masalah, namun kurang tepat dalam mengetahui kapan dan bagaimana menggunakan prosedur tersebut dan mengaplikasikan prosedur yang dipilih untuk memecahkan masalah.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

Teaching Fraction Concepts Using the Concrete-Representational-Abstract Sequence

Understanding related to fraction concepts is a critical prerequisite for advanced study in mathematics such as algebra. Therefore, it is important that elementary students form conceptual and procedural understanding of fractional numbers, allowing for advancement in mathematics. The concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) instructional sequence of instruction has been shown to be an effective means of teaching conceptual understanding of fractional numbers. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of CRA with remedial multitiered systems of support (MTSS) Tier 2 instruction for teaching fraction concepts. Thirty-one fifth-grade students participated in two different Tier 2 interventions; one group received typical Tier 2 instruction with their general education teachers and the other received CRA instruction with the researchers. The researchers measured student performance using a pretest and posttest and found significant differences in progress favoring the CRA group. Results and implications are discussed.