Teachers’ Readiness for STEAM and Differentiated Teaching: Its Connection to Students’ Critical Thinking in Mathematics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59175/pijed.v4i2.775Keywords:
Critical Thinking, Differentiated Teaching, Mathematics Education, Teachers’ ReadinessAbstract
Global assessments such as PISA 2022 and TIMSS 2019 reveal that Indonesian students’ mathematical literacy and critical thinking remain below international benchmarks. This study aims to examine the relationship between teachers’ readiness for STEAM and differentiated instruction and students’ critical thinking in mathematics. Using a descriptive–exploratory design as the baseline phase of a research and development project, data were collected from 30 mathematics teachers and 40 eighth-grade students through interviews, classroom observations, and a diagnostic critical-thinking test based on framework. The results show that only 10 % of teachers implemented STEAM and 16.7 % applied differentiation, while students achieved a mean score of 1.85 (out of 4), with the weakest performance in evaluation and inference. The novelty of this study lies in its empirical linkage between teacher readiness and student cognitive outcomes within a developing-country context. Practically, the findings imply the need for professional development and contextualized STEAM-based modules with built-in differentiation. This study contributes baseline evidence for designing and validating a differentiated STEAM mathematics module to enhance students’ higher-order thinking.
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