Pembelajaran multikultural fisika di smu

IJIET
Vol. 2, No. 1, January 2018 
54 
Comparison of Pretest and Posttest for the Experimental Group
Scores in Addition 
 
A p-value of 0.1511, more than 0.05, is obtained from the F-test conducted 
which translates to unequal variances; hence, there is insufficient evidence to 
show that the variances are not equal. Student’s t-test for two samples assuming 
equal variances reveals a p-value of 0.4414 which translates to insufficient 
evidence to show that the means are not equal. It means that there is no significant 
difference in the students’ performance between pretest and posttest in addition. 
One of the factors that might have affected the result is the limited time for 
practice especially with the addition of three-digit numbers using the abacus. 
Although the same rules for addition in abacus apply, the longer digit span might 
have been a source of unfamiliarity and difficulty to some students. Another 
possible factor is that the students might have reached their maximum capacity in 
using the abacus for addition, which implies that although further practice might 
improve their performance slightly (which was what happened), but such 
improvement would not be that significantly different anymore compared to non-
abacus users. Another factor that might have contributed to such performance, as 
observed by the researcher, is the presence of errors parallel to those classified by 
Stigler (1986): errors pertaining to the upper bead, omission or position. The first 
type of error relates to the upper bead being forgotten to be brought down when 
performing an operation involving the 
small friend
. The second type of error 
happens when a bead is accidentally moved or knocked by the fingers. The third 
type of error pertains to confusion over the position of beads, leading to 
misreading the value (e.g. 7 is read as 2 or vice-versa).