PERSEPSI MAHASISWA PENDIDIKAN MATEMATIKA TERHADAP KEMAMPUAN LITERASI NUMERASI SEBAGAI ESENSIAL CALON GURU DI BONDOWOSO

Abstract

Numeracy literacy is one of the essential competencies that prospective mathematics teachers must possess to meet the demands of 21st-century learning. This research aims to explore the perspectives of mathematics education students regarding numeracy literacy as an essential competence for prospective teachers. The study employs a qualitative descriptive approach. The research subjects are students of the Mathematics Education Study Program, selected through purposive sampling, who have completed courses in lesson planning and junior high school mathematics. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model, which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results indicate that students interpret numeracy literacy as the ability to understand, use, and apply mathematical concepts in daily life. Students perceive numeracy literacy as vital for prospective teachers because it supports conceptual understanding, contextual learning design, and the development of problem-based assessments. Although students demonstrate fairly good readiness to implement numeracy literacy in the classroom, obstacles remain in connecting mathematical concepts with real-world contexts. Therefore, systematic strengthening of numeracy literacy within the academic curriculum is required to further optimize the readiness of students as prospective teachers.