Curriculum changes in higher education, especially in mathematics, are intended to align academic content with scientific advancements and evolving workforce demands; however, such reforms often bring unintended academic challenges for students. In Indonesia, recent changes in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 mathematics curricula introduced shifts in course credit allocations, course learning outcomes (CLOs), material scope, instructional methods, and evaluation systems. This study specifically aims to evaluate the impact of these curriculum changes on student academic performance across five core mathematics courses: Introduction to Data Science, Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Linear Algebra, and Mathematical Statistics. Employing a quantitative, exploratory approach, the research analyses academic records from 586 students using descriptive statistics and visualisation techniques such as boxplots and bar-line charts. The findings reveal fluctuating average grades and a general decline in pass rates, particularly under the 2024 curriculum, which introduced more complex CLOs, deeper content coverage, and application-oriented assessments. These results highlight the urgent need to balance curriculum innovation with student readiness and provide valuable insights for curriculum development and educational policy planning.
Siregar et al. (Sat,) studied this question.