THE EFFECT OF SUPPORTED REALISTIC MATHEMATICS EDUCATION WITH SHORT FILMS ON CONCEPTUAL AND PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya

Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) emphasizes building formal mathematics understanding from students’ informal knowledge, using contextual real-life problems to develop mathematical structures. This study enriches RME with short films to attract attention, present mathematics topics in daily life, and strengthen the impact of the problems. Ten seventh-grade students studied “Equality and Equations” while worksheets, interviews, and study journals generated data. Content analysis showed the approach positively affected both conceptual and procedural knowledge and supported students’ enjoyment of mathematics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Realistic Mathematics Education and Short Film

THE EFFECT OF SUPPORTED REALISTIC MATHEMATICS EDUCATION WITH SHORT FILMS ON CONCEPTUAL AND PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE Zuhal GUN SAHIN, Ramazan GURBUZ Abstract: In Realistic Mathematics Education (RME), students should reach formal mathematics knowledge and explore mathematics based on their informal knowledge. The problems chosen in the exploration process should apply mathematics to real-life situations and be suitable for students to explore and create mathematical structures. In the current study, the researchers presented reallife problem situations with short films for getting students' attention, showing a mathematical subject in daily life, and increasing the effect of problems. In this manner, the purpose of this study was to the effects of enriched realistic mathematic education with short films on students'conceptual and procedural knowledge. Also, the researchers received participants' opinions about the teaching process. Therefore, the researchers selected 10 students as participants, who continued the 7th grade, and they examined the subject of "Equality and Equations." For collecting data in this study, the researchers used worksheets, interviews, and study journals, and they used content analysis for analyzing the data. The result of the study showed that this teaching method affected the conceptual and procedural knowledge of the students positively, and they discovered with pleasure mathematics. Key words: Realistic Mathematics Education, short film, conceptual and procedural knowledge, teaching mathematics 1. Introduction Mathematics is a lesson afraid by students in addition to being one of the challenging fields due to its nature. This situation affects students' mathematics achievement (Laurens et al., 2018) . Students have more difficulties in some subjects in mathematics, such as algebra. Although algebra has an essential place in mathematics education, many studies have stated that students have difficulties learning algebra (Amaç and Didiş Kabar, 2019; Blanton and Kaput, 2001; Ersoy and Erbaş, 2005; Gürbüz and Akkan, 2008; Kaya, 2015). For example, Yalvaç (2010) stated that one of the subjects with the lowest success was algebraic expression (equation) based on the result of the study that was implemented by 7th-grade students. Algebra plays a bridge role in mathematic teaching because it is a starting point for both a beginner mathematics learner and a student in higher education (Weaver, 2004) . In the same way, algebra significantly guides students in thinking abstractly and making logical inferences (MacGregor and Stacey, 1996) . Although the subject of equations, which plays a critical role in the transition to algebra, has a crucial in the mathematics curriculum, most of the students have difficulties in equations (Blanton and Kaput, 2001; Kaya, 2015; Vlassis and Demonty, 2000; Laughbaum, 2003) . According to Martin (2007, p. 30), mathematics failure is about the teaching method; it is not about mathematical content. For this reason, many studies have been conducted on mathematics teaching methods, and in these studies, "How can I teach mathematics effectively?" to answer the question has been tried to be sought. The researchers worked on methods to make it easier for individuals to make sense of mathematics to create an effective teaching method. Because making sense of mathematics means seeing mathematics in real life, using what you learn in real life, and enjoying mathematics (Doruk and Umay, 2011) . Oneof the reasons students have difficulty in algebra is that they consider equations a separate subject from daily life (Pope 1994) . One of the teaching methods to facilitate the mathematical interpretation process is Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) . Freudenthal, the founder of this education, defined learning mathematics as an interpretation process and stated that to do real mathematics, each new stage should be based on interpretation (Altun, 2006) . At the end of the

FAQs

What is the purpose of using short films in the RME approach?

The study uses short films to draw students’ attention, show the mathematics topic in daily life, and increase the effect of contextual problems in RME-based teaching.

Which students and topic were selected for the study?

Ten seventh-grade students participated, and the topic studied was “Equality and Equations.”

How were the teaching method’s effects measured?

Data were collected using worksheets, interviews, and study journals, and analyzed through content analysis to assess changes in conceptual and procedural knowledge.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya