Pedagogical Innovations in Elementary Mathematics Instructions: Future Learning and Research Directions

Abstract

Literature reviews about pedagogical innovations are of importance to determine further interventions for learning refinement and future research directions. The present study describes existing pedagogical innovations, identifies learning problems underlie the innovations, and outlines development models used for developing elementary mathematics educational innovations in Indonesia. A systematic literature review was administered to review scholarly articles published between 2014 and 2019. This time frame was drawn in relation to a new curriculum called Kurikulum 2013 introduced in early 2014. The results of this study reveal that the majority of pedagogical innovations focus on developing learning materials and techniques while fewer innovations develop learning environments. Problems underlie existing innovations mainly due to the elementary students who reluctant to learn mathematics, the less competent teachers, and the old-fashioned learning resources. Research and development in elementary mathematics were commonly conducted using Borg & Gall, ADDIE, and 4D models. The evidence from this study suggests that forthcoming mathematics teaching and learning process should be conducted in more enjoyable manners such as practicing microgame-based learning in either physical or digital learning spaces. One of the most sensible research agendas is to develop joyful learning environments to address the interrelated complex problems among students, teachers, and learning resources in elementary mathematics learning in Indonesia.