Mathematical literacy in primary schools: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Mathematical literacy began to receive international attention with the release of PISA results. PISA measured the mathematical literacy performance of 15-year-old students, and most recent studies used PISA's mathematical literacy definition. The mathematical literacy of young learners had not received much attention. This study reviewed articles on mathematical literacy, especially those related to primary schools published within 2013-2019. This study aimed to determine the mathematical literacy concept, instructional, and assessment in primary schools. The research was conducted followed the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) protocols. Only high-quality articles, which were published in SJR indexed journals, were included in the review. Twenty articles derived from Google Scholar, Springer, Science Direct, and Taylor & Francis had been selected. The results showed that (1) mathematical literacy for primary schools was defined differently from one institution to another; (2) mathematical literacy instruction in the present should place more emphasis on the competencies needed in the real world, especially thinking skills that computers can not do, for example, fair decision making based on social and mathematical thinking; and (3) mathematical literacy can be measured in various ways according to the purpose of the assessment.