Knowledge retention of students learning mathematics with culture and technology: A study of junior high school students

The transition from Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to Technological-Pedagogical-Content Knowledge (TPACK) underscores the need for a more meaningful integration of technology into mathematics teaching. Yet, this paradigm shift has not been accompanied by substantial gains in students' conceptual understanding and mathematical problem-solving skills, which are the central focus of the present study. The purpose of this study is 1) to describe the differences in the increase in students' mathematical ability (conceptual understanding and problem solving) in culture and technology-based learning and conventional learning, and 2) to describe the effects of both types of learning on student knowledge retention. This study is a quasi-experimental study comparing culture- and technology-based learning and conventional learning. The instrument used in this study is a mathematical ability test (pretest and posttest). Data analysis uses a difference-of-means test (N-Gain), t-test, two-way ANOVA, and MANOVA. The results show that the average increase in the culture and technology-based learning group is higher than that in the conventional learning group and is significantly different. There is a significant interaction effect between learning and mathematical ability (p<0.05, effect size λ = 0.996), the main effects of time periods pretest, posttest-1, & posttest-2 were significant (p< 0.05, effect size λ = 0.217), the main effects of mathematical ability on culture and technology based learning and conventional learning were also significant (p< 0.05, effect size λ = 0.215). These findings suggest that integrating technology and culture is an effective approach for providing a positive learning experience that promotes improved mathematical skills and longer-term knowledge retention. This sustained information retention is important for educational practice because it enables students to transfer and apply the concepts they have learned to future learning situations.