Development of Worksheet Cards to Improve Fourth-Grade Elementary School Students’ Ability to Understand Word Problems on Fractions

Abstract

This study aims to develop a flashcard-based teaching aid on fractions to improve fourth-grade elementary school students’ understanding of word problems, while also assessing its suitability, student response, and effectiveness. The study used a Research and Development (R&D) approach based on the ADDIE model, including analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The research instruments consisted of validation forms for media and content experts, a student response questionnaire, and pretest and posttest assessments. The validation results show that the worksheet medium falls into the “highly suitable” category, based on assessments from media experts and subject matter experts. Meanwhile, the pilot test results indicate that students responded very positively to this medium, as they found it easy to use, engaging, and helpful in understanding the concept of fractions, particularly when solving word problems. The effectiveness analysis showed an average pretest score of 25.89 and an average posttest score of 68.33. The Shapiro–Wilk normality test indicated that both the pretest and posttest data were normally distributed, with significance values of 0.562 for each. In addition, the N-Gain calculation yielded 0.57, which falls into the “moderately effective” category, indicating that the worksheet medium is effective in improving students’ understanding of word problems involving fractions. Thus, the worksheet cards are suitable, received positive feedback from students, and are sufficiently effective as an alternative teaching tool for mathematics in the fourth grade of elementary school.