Realistic Mathematics Education: A Learning Innovation in Enhancing Students' Algebraic Thinking Ability

Abstract

Algebra thinking is one of the abilities students must have in learning school algebra. The weak algebraic thinking ability of junior high school students is one part of the problems in mathematics education. One effort to solve these problems is to innovate learning with a realistic mathematics education (RME) approach. This study is a quasi-experiment about improving students' algebraic thinking abilities, with the experimental class using the RME approach and the control class using expository learning. The research sample consisted of 134 eighth grade students of junior high schools in Bandung. The results of the study show that increasing the algebraic thinking ability of students who get learning with an RME approach is better than students who get expository learning at every level of students' initial mathematical knowledge.