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Improving students’ mathematical communication skills and learning
interest through problem based learning model
To cite this article: Hidayati et al 2020 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1460 012047

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AICMSTE 2019
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1460 (2020) 012047

IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1460/1/012047

Improving students’ mathematical communication skills and
learning interest through problem based learning model
Hidayati1, Z Abidin2 and B I Ansari3
1
Department of Mathematics Education, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111,
Indonesia
2
Department of Mathematics Education, National Islamic University Ar-Raniry,
Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
3
Department of Mathematics Education, Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Banda Aceh,
23249, Indonesia
Email: hidayatiaskha@gmail.com
Abstract. One of the objectives of mathematics learning is to improve mathematical
communication skills. One learning model that can improve such skills is problem based
learning (PBL). This study aimed to examine the improvement of students’ mathematical
communication skills and students' motivation in statistics using PBL. The method used in this
study was classroom action research (CAR). Twenty-seven Year 12 students participated in the
study. The instruments used included a test for examining students’ mathematical
communication skills, observation sheet for observing student activities, and observation sheet
for evaluating the ability of teachers in managing the learning. The results showed that there
was an increase in students' mathematical communication skills through PBL model in Cycle I
and II, the average score was 68.89 and 75.56, respectively. The students' interest in learning
mathematics through PBL, specifically statistics, was also improved in each Cycle, with an
average of 51% and 67% for the Cycle I and II. The finding of this study can be used as a
reference to improve students' mathematical communication skills using the PBL model. The
PBL model also has a positive impact on students' interest to learn mathematics and it can
contribute to help students achieving the mastery learning of statistics.

1. Introduction
Mathematics plays an important role in education and can develop critical, creative, systematic, and
logical thinking. Mathematics has also contributed to everyday life from basic calculations to complex
and abstract concepts. One of the purposes of mathematics learning is to improve mathematical
communication skills [1].
The Indonesian students’ mathematics performance in the international assessment has not shown
satisfactory results. It can be seen from the International studies: Trends in International Mathematics
and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results
of TIMSS from 1999 to 2015 indicated that Indonesia was ranked 34th-45th out of 38-50 countries.
TIMSS 2011 placed Indonesia at the 38th out of 42 countries, with a score of 386 [2], while it was at
the 45th out of 50 countries, with a score of 397, in TIMSS 2015. Similarly, the results of PISA 2012
also reflected on the poor performance of Indonesian students’ mathematics literacy, ranked as the 64 th
out of 65 participating countries (the score of 375) [3]. OECD [4] also reported unsatisfactory results
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AICMSTE 2019
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1460 (2020) 012047

IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1460/1/012047

of Indonesian students in PISA 2015, where Indonesia was ranked the 63rd out of 70 countries (the
score of 386).
Mathematical communication skill is one of the abilities students require. However, students'
communication skills are still low while the teacher has applied an active learning model following the
demands of the 2013 curriculum. One of the contributing factors affecting the low communication
skills of students is the low initial ability of students to identify problems [5].
Mathematical communication is important for students. Baroody [6] defined the importance of
communication as follows: 1) mathematics as a tool to communicate ideas clearly, precisely and
accurately; and 2) mathematics as a social activity in learning mathematics. Thus, teachers need to
know the communicative classroom environment. Communicative classroom environment occurs
when the students: 1) express mathematical ideas orally, in writing, demonstration, and visualising
them in different types, 2) understand, interpret, and assess ideas presented in writing, orally, or visual
form, and 3) construct, interpret and connect various representations of ideas and their relationships
[7]. Sullivan and Muosley [8] emphasised that mathematical communication is not only expressing
ideas through writing but also, more broadly, the ability of students concerning speaking, explaining,
describing, listening, asking, clarifying, cooperating (sharing), writing, and finally reporting.
Based on the preliminary observation and the discussion between the researchers and Year 12
mathematics teachers, it showed that mathematical communication skills and students' learning
interest were poor. The students often had difficulty in expressing, interpreting, and evaluating
mathematical ideas both verbally and in writing; as well as in demonstrating and visualising them
visually. They were also not accustomed to using the mathematical terms or notations, using
structures for presenting ideas, and describing relationships between the situation models. The results
of the test of statistic topic in the first-semester exam in 2016/2017 academic year showed that only 13
out of 29 students met the criteria of mastery learning (44.83%). After reviewing the test results, the
researchers found that the students did not understand the purpose of the questions in statistics. In
addition, based on the exercises given by the teacher, only a few students could express their ideas in
writing, use mathematical terms or notation. Besides, the teacher said that students' interest in doing
the exercises was also lacking.
The lack of Year 12 students’ mathematical communication skills and learning interest were due to
the learning model applied. It was not successful in improving the mathematical communication skills
and learning motivation of the students. The learning process was teacher-centred and did not reflect
an active learning atmosphere. To overcome these problems, innovative learning models that can
provide learning experiences for students in developing students' mathematical communication skills
is necessary. In improving mathematical communication skills, students need to be supported by the
right approach or learning model so that the learning purposes can be achieved.
One learning model that can improve students' mathematical communication skills is problembased learning (PBL) model. PBL is a learning strategy that encourages students to be active and
confident in learning [9]. Four stages of PBL include: 1) orienting the students about the problems, 2)
organising students to research, 3) assisting independent and group investigations, 4) developing and
presenting artefacts or exhibits, and 5) analysing and evaluating the problem solving process [10].
Based on the above description, it can be said that students' mathematical communication skills are
crucial to developing so that the students can communicate well, both between students and between
students and teachers. With excellent communication skills, the students can solve their mathematical
problems better, especially the problems in their daily life. The students can also deliver information
obtained from group working better, so the information presented can be understood by others.
Learning interest also influences student achievement. A learning model where students can teach
each other, share knowledge and discuss, can improve student learning outcomes [11]. Sucipto argued
that students' motivation in learning could be influenced by an educational approach that focuses on
creative thinking, problem solving, and interaction between students [12]. According to Hardjana, the
learning interest is the tendency of the heart to learn to obtain information, knowledge, skills through
effort, teaching or experience [13].

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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1460 (2020) 012047

IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1460/1/012047

Thus a great interest can influence learning activities. Students who are interested in mathematics
will learn mathematics seriously and diligently. They will also feel happy engaging in mathematics
lessons and can even solve the exercises and other assignments. Students will easily memorise the
lesson and the learning process will run smoothly. Therefore, teachers need to foster students' interest,
and then they can easily understand the lessons. Judging from the factors affecting students'
motivation in learning, Slameto argued that the decrease in student interest is due to two factors,
internal and external factors, and one external factor is the constructive learning model [14]. Based on
these problems, the purposes of this study were to improve students' mathematical communication
skills in statistics through the PBL model and to examine the increase in students' interest in learning
mathematics through PBL model.
2. Methods
The method in this study was classroom action research (CAR), consisting of four stages: planning,
acting, observing and reflecting. The study was conducted at Aceh Besar Regency, Aceh, Indonesia.
The research subjects were 27 Year 12 students (7 male and 20 students). The study was conducted in
the second semester on statistics through PBL model in two learning cycles and four lessons.
The instrument used were tests, student activity observation sheet, teacher ability observation sheet,
and student learning interest questionnaire. The tests of mathematical communication skills (pre-test
and post-test) consisted of short answer problems. The student activity observation sheet was used to
examine student activities, while teacher ability observation sheet was to investigate teacher's ability in
managing the learning. Besides, student learning interest questionnaire was to discover the level of
students' interest in learning mathematics. Student mastery learning was analysed following the
criteria of mastery learning, that were 75% and 85% for individual and classical mastery learning
respectively. Student activities and teacher's ability in managing learning were analysed based on the
scoring criteria of excellent, good, average, fair and poor. The response to students’ mathematics
learning interest questionnaire was analysed by the criteria of excellent, good, average, fair and poor.
3. Results and discussion
The results of students' initial test described that the students' abilities on statistics were unsatisfactory,
20 out of 27 students (74%) did not meet the classical criteria of mastery learning. The initial test
result data became a reference for the learning process in Cycle I.
Student learning outcomes in Cycle I illustrated the ability of students to solve statistical problems
taught by using PBL model, with an average score of 68.89. 18 out of 27 students satisfied the criteria
of individual mastery learning. This is because students did not understand the prerequisite material
about mean, median and mode, it can be concluded that the learning of Cycle I had not met the criteria
of classical mastery learning.
Student learning outcomes in Cycle II showed that the average ability of students in solving
statistical problems was 75.56, 24 students (89%) met the criteria of individual mastery learning. This
means that students also fulfilled the criteria of classical mastery learning (greater than 85%).
Cycle II showed an improvement in student achievement as seen in the post-test results; it means
that the PBL model can improve student learning achievement. It is in line the finding of Rahayu et al.
and Pratiwi et al. reported that PBL learning models can improve student learning outcomes [15,16].
Karatas and Baki, in their research, also argued that the experimental class using PBL learning model
could better improve student learning outcomes compared to the control class [17].
The results of the students' initial test showed that students had not met the criteria of classical
mastery learning, indicating the low ability of student communication on statistics. Students'
mathematical communication skills in statistics through PBL model in Cycle I noted that nine students
(33%) had excellent, 11 students (41%) had good, five students (19%) had average and two students
(7%) had poor mathematical ability. In Cycle II, there were 11 students (41%) with excellent
mathematical ability, 15 students (56% students) with good ability and one student (4% students) with
average ability.

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AICMSTE 2019
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1460 (2020) 012047

IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1460/1/012047

Overall, the results of students' mathematical communication skills in statistics through the PBL
model in Cycle I and II were improved. Students' communication skills could be improved by the
implementation of PBL model [18-20].
Student activities in the learning process through the PBL model showed that at the first lesson of
Cycle I, out of 6 subjects observed, one subject had excellent activities, two subjects had good
activities and three subjects had average activities (see Figure 1).
Students' Learning Activities in Cycle I
80

Score

60
40

First Meeting
Second meeting

20
0
S1

S2 S3 S4 S5
Subject Code

S6

Figure 1. Student learning activities in Cycle I.
The students seem to be not engaged in learning, and they still had difficulty interacting with
friends and teachers. It is because the previous learning process was dominated by the teacher
delivering information. However, in Cycle II, students' activities in the learning process experienced
positive changes. They could tell their perception in learning, discuss in their group, present and
reflect on learning. Out of the six subjects observed, there was one subject with excellent activities and
five subjects with good activities (Figure 2).
Students' Learning Activities in Cycle II
100

Score

80
60
First Meeting

40

Second Meeting

20
0
S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

Subject Code

Figure 2. Student learning activities in Cycle II
Some weaknesses were seen from the observation. Students were not active during the question
and answer interaction session between the teacher and students when the teacher delivered learning
apperception. They were silent and talked to other students. They also were not engaged in asking and

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AICMSTE 2019
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1460 (2020) 012047

IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1460/1/012047

answering questions discussed by their classmates and teachers during the learning process. They also
had difficulty in expressing their learning difficulties (reflection of learning).
The teacher's activities in managing the learning at the first and second lesson of the Cycle I
showed that the teacher's activities were excellent in checking the room readiness, tools, teaching
instruments. The teacher was also excellent in mastering of the learning material, guiding students,
and organising the activities.
In Cycle I, the teacher's activities in managing learning was also improved in term of the activities
of presenting apperception based on teaching material and explaining the steps of learning about
statistics. Overall, the average teacher activities in managing the learning were 80% and 83% for the
first and second lesson, indicating that the teacher's activities in Cycle I was classified in the good
category. In Cycle II, the teacher's activities in managing learning were also improved, the average
was 86% and 89% for the first and second lesson respectively.
The students' interest in learning statistics through PBL models has also increased in each Cycle. In
Cycle I, the average learning interest was 51%, showing that the students' interest in mathematics
learning in statistics were average. In Cycle II, the average of learning interest was 67%, indicating
that the interest was good. The results showed an improvement in students' responses to the ongoing
learning cycle, with an improvement of 16%. The improvement illustrated that the use of the PBL
model could foster students' interest in learning statistics.
4. Conclusion
The students' mathematical communication skills through PBL model in Cycle I and II were
improved. The average score of Cycle I was 68.89 and 18 out of 27 students (67%) met the criteria of
individual mastery learning. Besides, the average score of Cycle II was 75.56 and 24 students (89%)
satisfied the criteria of individual mastery learning.
Students' learning interest in mathematics through the PBL model has also increased in each Cycle.
The average response of students' interest in learning mathematics was 51% and 67% in Cycle I and II,
respectively. It showed an increase in student responses and indicated that the PBL model could foster
student motivation in learning mathematics, especially statistics.
The finding of this study can be used as a reference to improve students' mathematical
communication skills using the PBL model. The PBL model also has a positive impact on students'
interest to learn mathematics and it can contribute to help students achieving the mastery learning of
statistics.
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doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1460/1/012047

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