This study aims to examine and analyze the use of concrete media in the student environment to understand the basic concepts of surface area and volume of a cone through the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach among ninth-grade students at SMP Negeri 1 Batang Kuis. Learning was designed to assist students in discovering mathematical formulas and relationships independently through direct experience with concrete media, such as cone nets, real-world conical objects (birthday hats, ice cream cones, and funnels), and RME-based Student Worksheets (LKPD). This research employs a descriptive quantitative-qualitative method. The subjects were 25 ninth-grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Batang Kuis. Data were collected via written individual assessments to measure conceptual understanding and group LKPD evaluations to assess the process of concept discovery. Data were analyzed descriptively based on individual and group scores. The results indicated an average individual assessment score of 42.00, with only 3 students (12.00%) achieving mastery (score ≥ 70) and 22 students (88.00%) scoring below 70. Conversely, the group-based LKPD evaluations yielded a high average score of 86.00, with all groups (100%) exceeding the mastery threshold. These findings demonstrate that concrete media integrated with RME effectively fosters collaborative learning and exploratory concept discovery in group settings. However, gradual guidance is essential to help students transition from concrete understanding to formal individual mathematical problem-solving.
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Kairuddin et al. (2026) studied this question.
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