Deepening students understanding of triangle topic through ‘application’ component of ELPSA (Experience, Language, Pictorial, Symbol and Application) framework

Abstract

ELPSA (Experience, Language, Pictorial, Symbol and Application) is a learning framework that was introduced as a sequence of a learning process which presents mathematical ideas through lived experience, mathematical conversation, visual stimuli, symbolic notation and the application of applied knowledge. Employing the “application” component of ELPSA framework in the mathematics classroom emphasizes how the understanding of certain material can be applied to a new situation. This study investigates the learning process during the class activity about the triangle. The study was conducted in one of the junior high school in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. The data were collected from teaching and learning videos and students’ work during the learning processes in the classroom. We transcribed and analysed the video as well as looked at the students’ works. The result shows that the activity of composing a 2D shape from various types of triangle support students in deepening their understanding about the types of triangles. Also, the activity of composing 2D shape can be a promising foreground for students in their following learning about the area of the composite figure.