Mathematical literacy: How to improve it using contextual teaching and learning method?

Abstract

Having mathematical literacy is defined as the ability of an individual to formulate, apply, and interpret mathematics in various contexts. Mathematical literacy enables the student to do, understand, and apply mathematical concepts not only in the classroom but also in daily life. However, in reality, the mathematical literacy abilities of Indonesian students from the results of the assessment of mathematical rankings internationally can be said to be less satisfying compared to the other countries. Therefore, a learning method that can be used as a solution to improve students' mathematical literacy abilities is needed. Contextual teaching and learning is a method that helps teachers to connect students with the real world. By applying the contextual teaching and learning, the teacher could possibly help students to improve their mathematical literacy. By theoretical study, this article attempts to describe some contextual teaching and learning components to improve students' mathematical literacy. It was found that the literature supports that there were connections between the learning steps and the components of contextual teaching and learning with some indicators on mathematical literacy.