CASCADE-IMEI: Web site support for student teachers learning Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) in Indonesia

CASCADE-IMEI is a learning environment in the form of a face-to-face course and a web site (www.cascadeimei.com) which aims to support student teachers in Indonesia to learn Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). RME is an instructional theory in mathematics education that was originally developed in the Netherlands. So far, two prototypes of the learning environment have been developed and evaluated both by student teachers in Indonesia and several experts in the Netherlands. This paper presents the origins of the learning environment (with an emphasis on its web site) as well as the results of the first two cycles of its prototyping process. INTRODUCTION CASCADE-IMEI (Computer Assisted Curriculum Analysis, Design and Evaluation for an Innovation in Mathematics Education in Indonesia) is a learning environment that aims to support mathematics student teachers in Indonesia who are planning to implement lessons that are based on the realistic mathematics education (RME) approach. RME is a well-known teaching-learning theory in mathematics education that has been proved to be successful in reforming the mathematics curriculum especially in the Netherlands (Lange, 1993; Gravemeijer, 1994). Contrary to the teaching approach that is common in Indonesia, RME uses contextual problems or applications as a source as well as a starting point for mathematics teaching. In this study RME is assumed to be a promising approach to improve mathematics education in Indonesia. The learning environment consists of two main parts that is a face-to-face course and a web site. The course stresses on the activities such as learning about the main ideas behind RME, its curriculum materials and how to use the materials in the classroom. On the other hand, the web site focuses on supporting course participants with RME materials, training opportunities focuses on how to teach RME materials using RME approach in the school and communication tools that can be used by participants when implementing RME lessons (Nieveen, 1997; Khan, 1997). This paper first presents theoretical framework of the study that is theory of Realistic Mathematics Education that is used as a guidelines in designing the learning environment and the strategies how to introduce RME as well as web site technology as innovation to the prospective teacher of school mathematics in Indonesia. The description of the learning environment is briefly presented. Then, the research methodology and the results of the study are discussed. A discussion and a conclusion complete the article. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK RME: philosophy, principles and characteristics The learning environment, including both the course and the web site, is designed based on the RME philosophy and principles. The philosophy of RME is mostly determined by