Math Literacy Research Articles

Applying Machine Learning and SHAP Method to Identify Key Influences on Middle-School Students' Mathematics Literacy Performance.

The PISA 2022 literacy assessment highlights a significant decline in math performance among most OECD countries, with the magnitude of this decline being approximately three times that of the previous round. Remarkably, Hong Kong, Macao, Taipei, Singapore, Japan, and Korea ranked in the top six among all participating countries or economies, with Taipei, Singapore, Japan, and Korea also demonstrating improved performance. Given the widespread concern about the factors influencing secondary-school students' mathematical literacy, this paper adopts machine learning and the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method to analyze 34,968 samples and 151 features from six East Asian education systems within the PISA 2022 dataset, aiming to pinpoint the crucial factors that affect middle-school students' mathematical literacy. First, the XGBoost model has the highest prediction accuracy for math literacy performance. Second, 15 variables were identified as significant predictors of mathematical literacy across the student population, particularly variables such as mathematics self-efficacy (MATHEFF) and expected occupational status (BSMJ). Third, mathematics self-efficacy was determined to be the most influential factor. Fourth, the factors influencing mathematical literacy vary among individual students, including the key influencing factors, the direction (positive or negative) of their impact, and the extent of this influence. Finally, based on our findings, four recommendations are proffered to enhance the mathematical literacy performance of secondary-school students.

PLS-SEM ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT'S IMPACT ON MATHEMATICS DIGITAL LITERACY

The rapid development of technology makes us have to be able to adapt well. Using the internet as a medium for activities is an unavoidable part. Therefore, it is necessary to learn about the ability to use the internet in activities called digital literacy. Digital literacy is a basic skill that students must have. It is no exception in the field of mathematics as one of the absolute sciences taught at every level of education. Therefore, researchers are interested in examining digital literacy in the field of mathematics. This research in general is still very rarely done, therefore it requires an in-depth understanding of theoretical studies to see the factors that influence digital literacy skills in the field of mathematics. The lack of sample size and the relativity of adequacy in fulfilling assumptions encourage the use of PLS-SEM as an alternative in analyzing the model formed. In this study, Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) are still used to build a framework and test the structural model to be formed. In addition, the method used gives researchers the freedom to express curiosity about the problem at hand. The results obtained show that the final model can be said to be good. Mathematics digital literacy skills are influenced by several main variables that are interrelated. These variables start from the carrying capacity of schools and families. These two variables will then have an impact on the readiness of teachers and students in the community to succeed or support mathematics digital literacy skills. School readiness and family support are the main keys in succeeding or improving digital math literacy skills.

View of Pre-Service Teacher Regarding Math and Science Literacy

As future teacher candidates, pre-service teachers must have good mathematical and scientific literacy. Therefore, this study aims to describe the prospective of teacher students’ mathematical literacy and scientific literacy. This type of research is a qualitative descriptive study with deep interview techniques. A total of 8 studentteacher candidates from the mathematics education, biology, and chemistry education study programs were selected to be interviewed. The results showed that students equipped with an understanding of mathematical literacy and scientific literacy in literacy-related programs and literacy lectures responded positively. Keywords: teacher regarding, math literacy, science literacy

The Role of Opportunity to Learn and School Socioeconomic Composition in Reducing Racial and Gendered Disparities in Mathematics Achievement

Mathematics literacy is crucial in many STEM fields, yet Black and Hispanic students are less likely to achieve high math proficiency. While previous literature investigated potential factors to mitigate racial or gendered disparities in mathematics literacy, few studies attended to the conditions under which the causal interpretation of the results obtained can be established. Guided by intersectionality theory and causal decomposition analysis, we examined the degree to which disparities in mathematics literacy (a) exist at the intersection of race and gender and (b) can be reduced by hypothetical interventions that equalize school socioeconomic status (SES) or opportunity to learn (OTL) across groups. We found large racial/ethnic differences in math literacy favoring Asians and whites and much smaller gender differences. We also found that equalizing school SES may reduce disparities for Black and Hispanic males and females; equalizing OTL may reduce disparities for Black and Hispanic males as well as Asian males and females; compared to white males. Our findings suggest that interventions that target specific race–gender groups are required to reduce disparities in math literacy.

The Educational Radicalism of Bob Moses

Those who come in contact with the Algebra Project, founded 40 years ago by Bob Moses, tend to underestimate the extraordinary radicalism of Dr. Moses’s strategy for using math literacy as an organizing tool. The Algebra Project uses hard-earned insights from the Black freedom struggle to create space for young people to fashion their own insurgency. The goal of the Project is the destruction of caste in the United States, approached through the counter-intuitive vehicle of math classrooms.

Investigating the relationship between math literacy and linguistic synchrony in online mathematical discussions through large‐scale data analytics

AbstractPrevious literature has associated math literacy with linguistic factors such as verbal ability and phonological skills. However, few studies have investigated linguistic synchrony, shown in mathematical discussions. This study modelled math literacy and examined the relationship of math literacy with linguistic synchrony between students and facilitators. We retrieved data from 20,776 online mathematical discussion threads at a secondary school level. First, we assessed students' math literacy based on their discussions and classified them into high‐ and low‐math literacy groups. Then, we conducted Cross‐Recurrence Quantification Analysis (CRQA) to calculate linguistic synchrony within each thread. The result implies that students with high math literacy are more likely to share common words (eg, mathematical terms) with facilitators. At the same time, they would paraphrase the facilitators' words rather than blindly mimic them as the exact sentences or phrases. On the other hand, students with low math literacy tend to use overlapping words with facilitators less frequently and are more likely to repeat the exact same phrases from the facilitators. The findings provide an empirical data analysis and insights into mathematical discussions and linguistic synchrony. In addition, this paper implies the directions to improve online mathematical discussions and foster math literacy. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Mathematical discussions are known to be an effective way to promote math literacy. Math literacy and linguistic skills have a strong link. Linguistic synchrony is related to better collaboration and common knowledge building. What this paper adds Reveals the relationship between math literacy and linguistic synchrony and deepens the understanding of digital communication in online learning environments. Provides empirical analysis of natural language data in group discussions using CRQA. Conceptualizes linguistic synchrony with three sub‐concepts: linguistic concurrence, predictability, and complexity. Implications for practice and/or policy Educators and practitioners could utilize the automatic formative assessment of math literacy based on the student's language use in mathematical discussions. Educational technology researchers and designers could include CRQA indices and recurrence plots in the dashboard design to provide information to support teachers and learners. Teachers would be able to provide real‐time interventions to promote effective mathematical communication and foster math literacy throughout mathematical discussions.

Contemporary Mathematics Learning: Instagram-based math learning medium increased elementary school students' math literacy

Modern education has shifted from teacher-centred to student-centred. This transition occurs because educators today work as instructional designers, facilitators, trainers, and learning administrators. Globalization and millennial students are destroying traditional schooling. Technology use is rising. This has adverse effects since youngsters are unwilling to utilize books to improve their mathematical literacy. This happens when pupils need help conceiving, applying, and comprehending mathematical concepts. To improve students' mathematical literacy, a teacher must create modern materials. This study is about R&D. This research produced a math learning tool for 12th-graders. The software emphasizes three-dimensional materials and is based on GeoGebra and Instagram. This study uses the Four-D development model: definition, design, development, and deployment. Modern three-dimensional educational materials made with Canva are the results of this research study. These contents will then be posted on Instagram. This essay will comprehensively analyze data collection, analysis, and Instagram content publishing. Currently, this research is in development, not distribution. Test sheets and questionnaires are used. Observation, interviews, questionnaires, and testing collect data. After observation and interviews, a questionnaire is distributed to finish the study. Pre- and post-tests assessed how GeoGebra Instagram content affected students' understanding of "point-to-point distance" in three-dimensional material. The article will detail this media's methods and results.

Mathematical Literacy Skills for Elementary School Students: A Comparative Study Between Interactive STEM Learning and Paper-and-Pencil STEM Learning

<p style="text-align:justify">This study aimed to compare and examine the effectiveness of interactive STEM learning and paper-and-pencil STEM learning in terms of mathematical literacy skills of elementary school students. This research is of a quasi-experimental type with a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. Sampling was carried out on the elementary school populations in Bengkulu and South Sumatra Provinces in two stages. In the first stage, schools in rural and urban areas were selected, and in the second, classes in each school were randomly selected. The selected sample consisted of fifth-grade students of the Public Elementary School of Terawas, Musi Rawas, with an experimental class A (n = 20) and an experimental class B (n = 19), as well as fifth-grade students of the Public Elementary School of Bengkulu City, with an experimental class A (n = 25) and an experimental class B (n = 22). Data collection was conducted using mathematical literacy skills tests in reference to the PISA and Minimum Competency Assessment (level 1–3). Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics; it employed an independent t-test for the comparative testing and an N-gain test for testing the effectiveness of STEM learning. The results showed that there were differences in math literacy skills between interactive STEM and paper-and-pencil STEM for students in urban schools, but not significantly different for students in rural schools. General STEM learning was effective in increasing the literacy of elementary school students, and interactive STEM in particular demonstrated the highest level of effectiveness in the urban school.</p>

MATHSANAY: School initiatives on bridging learners’ numeracy gap: A proposed math literacy project

This action research aims to determine the effectiveness of MATHSANAY Numeracy Project in bridging the numeracy gap and skills focusing on four fundamental operations in mathematics namely addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in among 49 identified non-numerate Grade 7 students of Bagbag National High School District of Rosario The study used the purposive sampling procedure. Numeracy Test was given to identify the non-numerates from grade 7 entrants as subject of intervention activities which is one hour face-face tutorial session every 5th day of the week and supported practice drill cards in daily lesson. It was conducted during the whole period of first quarter using Dependent T-test of two sample means. The pretest and posttest results were found “Highly Significant” where in the computed p-value is 0.00.with T value of -10.55. Moreover, the student-participants gained a notable improvement in their numeracy skills which moved its category from non-numerate group to moderately numerate group .Hence the utilization of MATHSANAY project is effective intervention in bridging the numeracy gap and skills which translated into a higher learning outcome of students and achievement in Mathematics.

Effectiveness of Project Based Learning in New Normal Era in Term of Math Literacy

This research aims to find out the difference in students' mathematical literacy improvement skills by applying learning using Project Based Learning and conventional learning models. Jenins' research is quantitative research. Quantitative research can be defined as a process of finding knowledge by using data in the form of numbers as a tool to analyze information about what you want to know. The subjects in this study were the entire viib class of SMPN 2 Sumobito Jombang. The sample in this study was class VIIB SMPN 2 Sumobito Jombang consisting of 32 students. The instruments used in this study are pre-tests and post tests. Based on the results of the independent test sample t test obtained a significant value of 0.018<0.05 with a confidence level of 95% which means Ho was rejected and Ha was accepted. With the sake of the effect of the Project Based Learning learning model on students' mathematical literacy skills on the results of students' mathematical learning in the statstika material of presentation of class VII data SMPN 2Sumobito Jombang.

Mathematics literacy task on number pattern using Bengkulu context for junior high school students

Mathematical literacy has an important role in solving students' real-life problems in supporting literacy skills, teachers can use real contexts as outlined in tasks in-class learning. The Bengkulu context can be used because it is closely related to the environment and students' daily live. This study aims to produce math literacy tasks in the Bengkulu context which are valid and potential impact on student literacy. The research employed a development design with a formative evaluative model using stages of self-evaluation, expert reviews, one-to-one, small group, and field tests. The subjects of the research were students in the eighth grade of a Junior High School in Bengkulu City. Data were collected through questionnaires, documentation, tests, and interviews. This study produced four mathematical literacy tasks with the Bengkulu context that met the criteria of being valid and having a potential impact. Mathematical tasks that are designed with the context can improve students' mathematical literacy activities. The use of tasks with context can be a learning resource that strengthens the introduction of students' local culture.

Scaffolding STEM Literacy Assignments To Build Greater Competence in Microbiology Courses.

Different approaches can be used to impart science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) literacy among undergraduates and thus can be modified to support various scientific concepts and course objectives. In comparable microbiology-related courses, scaffolded assignments to improve STEM literacy through data, information, and communication analysis skills were developed using the ASM Curriculum Guidelines and the Microbiology Course Inventory (MCI) to structure the course and assignments. Examples of such assignments included a meta-analysis using literature and bioinformatics, as well as a public data presentation and an epidemiological model based on current events. To evaluate the effectiveness of such approaches, assignment components were aligned to determine whether the activities reinforced the MCI concepts. Comparison of pre- and postcourse data indicated relative strengths (and weaknesses) addressed by scaffolded STEM literacy pedagogy. These efforts also contribute to a department-wide initiative to enhance career readiness and implementation of course assessments. Future goals are to broaden the integration of assignment components to other microbiology-related courses and have longitudinal assessment.

Junior high school students’ mathematical literacy in terms of mathematical self-efficacy

Mathematical literacy and self-efficacy are critical in learning, especially mathematics. In contrast to previous studies, which only describe mathematical literacy and self-efficacy, this study aims to describe the ability of mathematical literacy in terms of mathematical self-efficacy. This research was a survey research qualitative and quantitative approaches. The results of this study indicate that the mathematical literacy abilities of grade VIII students in junior high school in Yogyakarta with sample 436 students are in a low category and the mathematical self-efficacy in the medium category. The higher the students’ mathematical self-efficacy, the higher their mathematical literacy. Students with high mathematical self-efficacy also tend to keep their maximum effort because they have the confidence to solve math literacy questions. Students with medium mathematical self-efficacy tend to doubt their abilities when facing difficult mathematical literacy questions. Students with low mathematical self-efficacy tend not to be confident in solving them because they think they lack mathematical abilities. This research is expected to map the mathematical literacy abilities of junior high school students in Yogyakarta. Besides, it can make material for reflection in world education to improve it.

Teachers' perceptions of the brazilian curriculum reform, PISA and mathematics literacy

The present work is the result of a master's research, guided by the following question: what are the perceptions that teachers of Mathematics of Basic Education have about BNCC, about PISA and about what is mathematical literacy proposed in PISA and BNCC? The article has a mixed nature and the data were collected through questionnaires, applied to Mathematics teachers who work in the Public Network of the State of Paraná. Data analysis took place through Content Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We obtained four clusters that allowed us to verify that the teachers knew the BNCC, but many did not read the Mathematics chapter. Regarding PISA, many teachers were not aware of this assessment. We found that teachers do not know if there are relationships between PISA and BNCC, as well as most teachers confused math literacy with math literacy.

Visualizing Status, Hotspots, and Future Trends in Mathematical Literacy Research via Knowledge Graph

The goal of education for sustainable development is to prepare future citizens to make informed decisions and take responsible action to solve problems. The purpose of mathematical literacy is to ensure that all learners develop an understanding of mathematics, and how to relate mathematics to the world and use mathematical knowledge to make valuable decisions in their lives, work, and society. It can be seen that the purpose of mathematical literacy coincides with the goal of education for sustainable development. In addition, math literacy is closely related to self-regulated learning (SRL), which is the key to meaningful learning and sustainable development. In educational research, it is an essential task to cultivate learners’ mathematical literacy and promote their sustainable development. With the rapid growth of emerging technologies, the emergence of big data has brought numerous challenges to various research fields. In the age of big data, educational research that can identify research perspectives and hotspots and summarize research evolution rules from a large body of literature can assist us in deepening subsequent analysis. As a result, in this study, we used CiteSpace and HistCite knowledge map visualization and exploration technology to examine mathematical literacy research trends, major research countries and regions, major research institutions, significant researchers, highly cited papers, research hotspots, and evolution trends on a global scale. Through this study, we found that the earliest literature on mathematical literacy appeared in 1957, and the research on mathematical literacy can be divided into three germination stages (1957–2001), a slow development stage (2001–2011), and a prosperous development stage (2011–2022). Most studies come from developed countries such as the US, the UK, Germany, and Australia. The Universities of Utrecht and Purdue University were the most published institutions, and scholars at Purpura published the most articles. The research object of highly cited literature is mainly children, and the research is primarily carried out through the measurement of students’ mathematical ability and achievement and the analysis of related influencing factors, which provides a direction for how to improve students’ mathematical literacy. The research on mathematical literacy mainly includes four research hotspots: working memory and mathematical literacy; brain science and mathematical literacy; mathematical achievement and mathematical literacy; and the generation strategy of mathematical literacy. The research field of mathematics literacy mainly includes working memory, parietal cortex, math performance, mathematics education, early childhood, parental belief, fractions, cognitive development, and student learning. There are 10 clusters. Different clusters have different evolutionary trends. With the evolution of time, working memory, mathematical education, fractions, and precinct beliefs clustered, gradually expanding from the concentrated research direction to the subdivision field. The clusters of parietal cortex, math performance, early childhood, cognitive development, and students do not show large keyword nodes during the research period. With time, it has gradually expanded from the centralized research direction to the subdivision field. The parietal cortex, math performance, early childhood, cognitive development, and students clusters did not show large keyword nodes during the whole study period.

Students' Math Literacy in Solving PISA-Like Problems in Papuan Local Context

Mathematical literacy in Indonesia is still relatively low. Student achievement in PISA questions is also still not adequate. Mathematical literacy is not limited to the ability to apply quantitative aspects of mathematics, it employs knowledge of mathematics in a broad sense. Mathematical literacy skills are closely related to interpreting problems related to local contexts into mathematical problems. This study aims to describe students' mathematical literacy activities in solving problems similar to PISA in the regional context; the context in which this research is desired is the local Papuan context. The research method employed is the descriptive qualitative method. The samples were 8th graders of SMP Batik Program Khusus Kartasura, totaling six students. Data was collected using a written test consisting of two items of PISA-like problems, observations, and interviews. This research produces problems similar to PISA within the local context of Papua. PISA-like questions are declared to be valid, simple, and have the potential to determine students' mathematical literacy abilities. The PISA-like problems are valid based on the review by experts in the appropriate field in terms of aspects, content, structure, and language. This PISA-like problem was also developed based on seven basic mathematical abilities that employ mathematical literacy. We successfully concluded that the dominant aspects for students are making assumptions and conceptualizing. While the parts of structuring and formulating a model are not dominant. In addition, PISA-like problems have more potential effect on determining students' mathematical literacy.

Primary Students’ Math Literacy in terms of Higher Order Thinking Skill

Primary students' math literacy is still inadequate. This is due to the limited number of problems based on math literacy, while studies analyzing math literacy require high-order thinking skills (HOTS). This study aims to develop instruments and analyze primary students' math literacy by reviewing high order thinking (HOTS). The study participants were 30 fifth-grade primary school students by grouping students into three HOTS levels: low, medium, and high. The study method uses a mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) with an explanatory sequential design. The research instrument is an initial math literacy test (ML-T) that focuses on content, context, process, and level. Data analysis used descriptive statistics. The results of the study resulted in 15 ML-T which had been declared valid and reliable, divided into 6 items at levels 1-2 (easy), 5 items at levels 3-4 (enough), and 4 items at levels 5-6 (hard). The results of another study show that the success of primary students' math literacy depends on the level of ML-T problems and students' HOTS abilities. Higher ML-T levels tend to be completed with math literacy in the perspective of higher HOTS levels of students. This study's implication is to contribute to developing authentic math literacy instruments and analyzing the success of primary students' math literacy by looking at the HOTS level.

Thinking Process Analysis (Assimilation, Accommodation, Abstraction) Mathematics Ability of Junior High School Students in terms of Learning Style

The purpose of this research is to know the thinking processed of student’s mathematical literacy abilities in terms of auditory, visual and kinesthetic learning styles. This research is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach. This research was conducted in Junior High Schools classified as Excellent in Meulaboh Regency. The subjects in this study were students of class IX MTsN 3 Aceh Barat who had the high-level ability and were able to solve math literacy problems, besides the subject was also chosen based on learning styles. The results showed that there was no significant difference in students mathematical literacy thinking processes based on visual learning styles is the process of assimilation and abtarksi thinking. Subjects with auditory learning styles, the thought processes of accommodation and abstraction for the kinesthetic learning styles, the processes of thinking, assimilation and abstraction.

Why Did Elementary Students Have Difficulty Working in Mathematical Literacy Questions?

<p>This study aimed to analyze students' learning difficulties in working on mathematical literacy questions. This research is qualitative research by taking data using tests, interviews, and observations. The results about the difficulty working in math literacy based on mathematical disposition have shown indicated that five factors cause students to find it hard to work on mathematical literacy questions. First, students have not understood the language, phrases, words, sentences, and the context of the story. Second, students were unable to make mathematical models or problem representations. Third, students did not understand mathematical concepts. Forth, students had wrong in performing mathematical procedures. Fifth, students were weak fighting power. From all these factors, students have a negative disposition toward mathematics which causes students to be unable or unwilling to solve mathematical literacy problems. The implication of the study shows that what must be improved is the negative mathematical disposition of students to be positive.</p>

Prediction of the Factors Affecting PISA Mathematics Literacy of Students from Different Countries by Using Data Mining Methods

The purpose of this study is to predict the mathematical literacy levels of the students participating in the research through the data obtained from PISA 2015 exam organized by OECD using data mining and to determine the variables that affect mathematics literacy. For this purpose, students' mathematics literacy levels and the variables that affect their mathematics literacy levels were analyzed separately for 6 different countries at different proficiency levels. The population of the research is 519334 students from 72 countries, who have taken PISA 2015 exam. The sample that was determined according to the purpose of the study consists of a total of 34,565 students from Singapore, Japan, Norway, the USA, Turkey, and the Dominican Republic, which have been observed to be at different proficiency levels. In the first stage of the study, analyzes were performed using data mining prediction methods. At this stage, WEKA program was employed and M5P algorithm, which is one of the most common methods, was used. In the second stage of the research, the output variable was predicted from the input variables using Artificial Neural Networks methods to determine the extent to which decision trees obtained by M5P prediction method produce valid results. In the analyzes carried out in MATLAB program, the relationship between students' actual math literacy scores and literacy scores predicted from input variables was examined. As a result of the study, the variables that affect mathematics literacy were found to be the socio-economic status index for Singapore, Norway, the United States, Turkey, and Dominic. On the other hand, the variables influencing mathematics literacy for Japan were found to be mathematics learning time and father's education level. The consistency of the results was as follows: 86.10% for Singapore, 40.26% for Japan, 30.10% for Norway, 39.15% for America, 26.43% for Turkey, and 29.24 % for Dominic. As a result of the study, a differentiation was found among the variables that affect mathematics literacy of the countries at different proficiency levels.