Critical thinking skills in mathematics

Abstract

Teachers’ low mathematical critical thinking skills (MCTS) resulted in students’ low MCTS in the learning process. A teacher needs to have a good foundation of MCTS so that they can pass on their MCTS to their students. This study aims to improve the teaching and learning activities of teachers through prospective teachers and to find out whether there is an effect of the interaction between learning and Mathematical Prior Knowledge (MPK) of prospective teachers on the achievement of the MCTS. The solution offered in the learning process is Realistic Mathematics Education based on Emergent Modeling (RME-EM). The research method used is quantitative research methods. The research sample is prospective teachers at one of the private universities in West Java, as many as 51 people. The result of the research is that the achievement of the student teaching and learning activities of prospective teachers who get RME-EM learning is better than the achievement of the MCTS of prospective teachers who get conventional learning. On the influence of the interaction between learning (RME-EM and Conventional) and MPK (high, medium, and low) prospective teachers on the achievement of MCTS, it is found that there is an influence on the achievement of student teaching and learning activities based on learning and MPK, but there is no interaction between learning and MPK towards the achievement of prospective teachers. RME-EM learning can be implemented at various student levels and is quite successful in improving teaching and learning activities for prospective teachers. However, RME-EM learning activities are not sufficient to have a significant impact on the interaction between learning and MPK on prospective teachers. RME-EM can be a solution for teachers who want to improve their students’ MCTS in the classroom.