The effectiveness of STEM mentor-mentee programme: Recreational Mathematics among secondary school students

Abstract

In effort to engage secondary school students' awareness towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the Recreational Mathematics programme is designed. The main objective of this programme is to promote secondary school students' interest towards Mathematics subject. The participants were grade 5 students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sungai Burong, Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. This programme contained 7 Mathematics activities involved basic concept of algebra. For each activity, they were guided by Universiti Selangor's facilitators and mentors. The effectiveness of Recreational Mathematics programme was assessed through these activities. Data on a total of 91 students was collected and it was found that 75% students agreed on the success of the programme management. More than half of the students were interested with the method guided by the facilitators and mentors. They enjoyed studying this subject through mathematical games and activities. Nevertheless, there is a challenge to be encountered while conducting this programme. It was found that 96% of the students were not aware on the importance of STEM and more specifically the significance of mathematical subject. These findings show that STEM activities should be continuously run especially to the students in the rural area.