Virtual Reality in Realistic Mathematics Education to Develop Mathematical Literacy Skills

Abstract

Although mathematical literacy skills have been emphasized in education, standardized test results show that students still struggle in this regard. Hypothesizing that both virtual and realistic mathematics education approaches may be useful, this article combines two approaches as Virtual Realistic Mathematics Education (VRME) to enhance mathematical literacy. A one-group experimental research design was adopted with the participation of 20 6th-grade middle school students. The qualitative data were also used to explain the improvements in mathematical literacy. The results revealed that all of the dimensions of mathematical literacy skills; employ, interpret and formulate were improved while the improvements in interpret dimension was the lowest. The results also indicated the importance of knowledge co-construction through discussion for the development of mathematical literacy, especially for the interpret dimension. Finally, the study demonstrated that virtual tools can be used to improve mathematical literacy by expanding RME.