INTERACTIVE FLANNEL BOARD AS A MATHEMATICS LEARNING MEDIA TO IMPROVE STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF NUMBER CONCEPTS

Abstract

Learning activities that mainly rely on lectures and textbooks tend to limit students' active participation, causing them to memorize concepts without fully understanding their meaning. This issue is particularly evident among children aged 6–7 years, who are still in the concrete operational stage of cognitive development and require direct learning experiences through tangible objects. Therefore, appropriate learning media are needed to bridge abstract mathematical concepts with students' concrete learning experiences. This study aims to develop an interactive flannel board learning medium that is suitable for improving first-grade elementary school students' understanding of number concepts. The study employed the Research and Development (R&D) method using the Borg and Gall development model, which was simplified into seven stages: needs analysis, planning, initial product development, expert validation, revision, field testing, and final product revision. The research subjects were first-grade students of SDN Mrican 3 and SDN Mrican 4, Kediri City. The research instruments included material expert and media expert validation sheets, a practicality questionnaire, and a number concept understanding test. The findings revealed that the interactive flannel board learning medium achieved a very high level of validity based on evaluations from both material and media experts. In addition, the medium was found to be practical for classroom implementation and effective in improving students' understanding of number concepts. Therefore, the developed learning medium can serve as an alternative instructional tool that promotes a more active, concrete, and enjoyable mathematics learning experience for lower-grade elementary school students.