Effectiveness of Using Interactive Flat Panel Media in Improving Understanding of Mathematical Concepts in Lower Elementary School Grades

Abstract

This qualitative case study examined how an Interactive Flat Panel (IFP) supports mathematical conceptual understanding among lower-grade elementary students and explored why teachers and students perceived the medium as facilitating or constraining classroom knowledge exchange, given low national mathematics achievement and scarce research on IFP use in Indonesian primary classrooms. The study was conducted at SD Negeri 1 Patas I, South Barito, Indonesia, involving three lower-grade teachers, one school principal, and three to six purposively selected Grade 3 students representing varying levels of conceptual understanding. Data were collected through classroom observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis, and analyzed using an interactive qualitative model of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Findings showed that IFP-assisted instruction was associated with a marked increase in student attention and participation, including an approximately 100 percent increase in observed attention span relative to conventional instruction, along with stronger conceptual understanding of multiplication, place value, and geometric shapes through direct manipulation of virtual objects. However, in several lessons the IFP was used mainly as a presentation tool rather than an interactive medium, and unstable internet connectivity constrained its instructional use. These findings suggest that the conceptual value of Interactive Flat Panels in early mathematics education is real but conditional, depending on teachers' pedagogical and technological competence and on supportive infrastructure rather than on the device's features alone.