Challenges in teaching Real Analysis classes at the University of PGRI, South Sumatra, Indonesia

TL;DR

This paper explores the challenges of teaching advanced Real Analysis to Mathematics Education students at an Indonesian university, highlighting difficulties, current methods, and potential improvements for curriculum and teaching strategies.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of teaching challenges and discusses possible adaptations of teaching methods and curriculum for future mathematics teachers in Indonesia.

Findings

High difficulty of syllabus topics for education students

Conventional lecture methods are primarily used

Potential for adopting more effective teaching strategies

Abstract

This paper discusses our experiences and challenges in teaching advanced undergraduate Real Analysis classes for Mathematics Education students at the University of PGRI (Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia, Indonesian Teachers Association) Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. We observe that the syllabus contains topics with a high level of difficulty for the students who are specialized in education and intend to teach mathematics at the secondary level. The conventional lecturing method is mainly implemented during the class, with some possible variations of the method, including the Texas method (also known as Moore's method) and the small group guided discovery method. In particular, the latter method has been implemented successfully for a Real Analysis class at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire by Dumitra\c{s}cu in 2006. Although it is a real challenge to apply a specific teaching method that will be able to accommodate a large number of students, the existing teaching activities can still be improved and a more effective method could be implemented in the future. Furthermore, the curriculum contents should be adapted for an audience in Mathematics Education to equip them for their future career as mathematics teachers. Any constructive suggestions are welcome for the improvement of our mathematics education system at the university as well as on the national scale.