Surakarta, January 2, 2026 – Who says math is boring? On Friday afternoon (January 2), the atmosphere in Rooms C21A to C22 of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta (UMS) suddenly transformed into an innovation gallery. It wasn’t an art exhibition, but rather Mathematics Education students were “dueling” their creativity in a presentation and exam on a Manipulative Teaching Aid Project.
Each group was assigned to present the teaching aids they had developed over the semester. Assessment included design creativity, mathematical concept accuracy, functional quality of the tools, presentation skills, and the ability to answer examiners’ questions. The examiners were lecturers from the Mathematics Teaching Aids course.
The exam was conducted interactively, with student groups not only demonstrating their teaching aids but also explaining the conceptual background, working methods, and potential uses of the tools in classroom learning. Several projects demonstrated interesting innovations, such as the geometry mode (geoseru), the interactive number game (math market), and the learning media for mean, median, and mode (meanalistik).
Through this project exam, UMS Mathematics Education demonstrated that being a mathematics teacher in the future requires creativity. Teachers no longer simply stand in front of a blackboard, but rather become facilitators capable of providing enjoyable learning media. The activity, which lasted until the afternoon, proceeded in an orderly and inspiring manner. For students, this is a first step. For the world of education, it represents the hope of the presence of teachers who can inspire students to fall in love with mathematics.
UMS Mathematics Education
Professional – Innovative – Islamic