Mathematics Teaching of Abstract with The Concrete Approach
Most Indonesian students regards mathematics as difficult and boring lessons. Math was never a favorite lesson the students, including teachers. This perception arises because immateriality of mathematics that are not visible form and apparently, just the numbers alone. Especially calculus as limit, integral, differential and so forth. Students feel no need to learn the material "weird" because it is not clear is their role. They think ordinary arithmetic operations are sufficient for use in their daily lives such as summation, subtraction, multiplication, and division. So, there are students who defines mathematics as "the more diligent increasingly unpalatable." That things like this that is growing in our education.
Basically, mathematics is a branch of science that studies the size, structure, space, and change. Mathematics is indispensable in everyday life, not just in the process of buying and selling in the market but rather to build a scientific way of thinking and logical through mathematical operations performed each student. By studying math, a person will have good reasoning power to solve the problem because the habit of counting things that "must", not something that is not necessarily the truth.
By understanding the math lesson, students will also be easier to follow the other because the basic science of other sciences such as physics and chemistry is to use mathematical concepts. No wonder if a mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss called mathematics as Queen of Science, Queen of Science.
Developing students' critical thinking and logical is one of the roles of teachers of mathematics. Teachers not only teach abstract formulas to students or solve problems with complex numbers, the teacher should be able to connect the abstract mathematics learned in school to real life students.
Many ways you can do to attract student teachers in learning mathematics. One of them is to show that abstract mathematics to students to be enjoyed and viewed the students through the application of mathematical theories in their daily lives.
Teach mathematics to students in order to become an easy lesson is not about easy. In addition to the self will require students to learn mathematics, support from parents and teachers is critical. Parents can give moral and material support to their children while teachers teach math to be creative ways to entice students to learn mathematics.
Without realizing it, the technology is enjoyed by students every day is a product of the application of mathematical theory. Computer is one of them. Computers are electronic devices that use mathematical operations in order to translate. Meanwhile, the computer can read data in binary form that in fact could be counted in calculus subjects. This could be a reference for teachers in providing a stimulus and attract the attention of students before the teaching of calculus to the class that by studying this chapter student will be able to master the language that computers use to read data. Students will feel challenged to understand the binary language of computers as they like and use everyday.
Another example is when a teacher taught a lesson statistics. Usually the teacher immediately gives the formulas of statistics without concrete examples of daily life. Students are only required to be able to calculate statistical data through a formula that has been given. This shows there is no testing in the form of an analysis of students' abilities. Students only perform arithmetic operations as usual. And teachers can relate this material into daily life such as fast computation of a general election. After understanding the statistics chapter, teachers can test through a small rapid calculation in their school. They do not have to do a written test in class. Enough with instructions for quick calculation of the class president election, students can apply all the statistical theories they are learning. Indirectly, the teacher has been testing a lot of indicators of students. Like how students collect data, calculate data, and analyze data. Students will feel comfortable with this testing because they go directly to the field and perform concrete actions for this material.
Teachers should be able to familiarize themselves with connecting material to teach mathematics with everyday life so that students can absorb and apply the theory to life. This strategy will help to change perceptions of students who considered mathematics as a lesson that is not real. In addition, students will also be more interested in studying mathematics as a scientific branch of science and useful.
By:
Vanny Septia Efendi
Department of Mathematics Education
Sampoerna School of Education