Using Digital Pythagorean Tangram to Enhance Mathematical Justification Skills of Prospective Mathematics Teachers

Yusuf Adhitya 1 Indonesia , Nurmala Setianing Putri 1 Indonesia , Bill Chairy Rizki Bustaren 1 Indonesia
1 Department of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
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Published 2025-12-18
Vol. 5 No. 4 (2025) PAGES 1699 - 1710
DOI 10.51574/kognitif.v5i4.4020
Views / Downloads 184 214

Mathematical justification is a crucial skill for mathematics teachers because it emphasizes proof and reasoning. This study examines how using the media “Digital Pythagorean Tangrams,” a manipulable, multimedia tool on Polypad, can improve prospective teachers' justification skills when proving the Pythagorean theorem. This research used a one-group pretest-posttest design where students were given a pre-test, then received an intervention using the media, and subsequently completed a post-test. The participants included 44 mathematics education students at a university in Bandung. Instruments comprised a mathematical justification test (pretest and posttest) and Digital Pythagorean Tangram media. Pretest and posttest data were analysed to obtain the N-gain score to estimate the effect size. The N-gain data were analysed using a one-sample t-test to check whether the improvement was statistically significant.  The results revealed an average N-gain score of 0.42, which falls into the medium category, demonstrating a notable improvement in students' mathematical justification skills before and after using the digital tangram media. The One-Sample t-test also indicated a significance level below 0.05, confirming that the increase in students' mathematical justification ability is significant. Integrating digital manipulatives into proof-oriented instruction can meaningfully enhance prospective teachers’ justification skills and may serve as a practical pedagogical approach in mathematics teacher education.

Adhitya, Y., Putri, N. S., & Bustaren, B. C. R. (2025). Using Digital Pythagorean Tangram to Enhance Mathematical Justification Skills of Prospective Mathematics Teachers. Kognitif: Jurnal Riset HOTS Pendidikan Matematika, 5(4), 1699–1710. https://doi.org/10.51574/kognitif.v5i4.4020
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Keywords
Digital Media Pythagorean Theorem Mathematical Justification Tangram Prospective Teacher