CREATIVITY, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, AND

HABITS OF MIND THROUGH MATHEMATICAL

MODELING OF NATURAL DISASTERS

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

2023
Volume: 9
Pages: 1177-1181
Document ID: 2023PEMJ815
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8058951
Manuscript Accepted: 2023-19-6
Psych Educ, 2023, 9: 1177-1181, Document ID:2023 PEMJ815, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8058951, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Creativity, Communication Skills, and Habits of Mind Through

Mathematical Modeling of Natural Disasters
Garry C. Cachuela*
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the interrelationships among students' mathematical creativity,
mathematical communication skills, and mathematical habits of mind (HoM) after exposure to
Mathematical Modeling (MM) on natural disasters. It also aimed at ascertaining the difference in the
students' mathematical creativity, mathematical communication skills, and mathematical habits of
mind (HoM) before and after being exposed to MM. The study's respondents were the Grade 10
students at Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas Campus who are enrolled in selected
topics in Mathematics for the school year 2018-2019. A validated test on MM on natural disasters
was used to determine students' mathematical creativity, mathematical communication skills, and
mathematical HoM accompanied by validated and reliability-tested rubrics. The results disclosed that
students have a developing level of mathematical creativity, a beginning level of communication
skills, and average HoM before being exposed to MM. However, students have a proficient level of
mathematical creativity, developing communication skills, and high HoM after being exposed to
MM. So, significant differences existed in the students' mathematical creativity, mathematical
communication skills, and mathematical HoM before and after being exposed to MM. There are
significant relationships among students' mathematical creativity, mathematical communication
skills, and mathematical HoM after exposure to MM in natural disasters. Thus, teaching and learning
mathematics should encourage the inclusion of MM in the curriculum and should be considered as a
strategy in teaching mathematics to make the learning of mathematics more relevant to the students.

Keywords: creativity, communication skills, habits of mind, mathematical modeling, natural

disasters

Introduction the mathematical model was the resulting process. In

this process, the students used mathematical
knowledge, inquiry skills, and thinking alone when
Mathematical modeling (MM) -using mathematical participating in the class (wang et al., 2023). In this
approaches to understand and make decisions about case, students will be exposed to mathematical
real-world phenomena- "can be used to motivate modeling of natural disasters congruent to the
curricular requirements and can highlight the Philippines' Harmonized National Research and
importance and relevance of mathematics in answering Development Agenda 2013-2020 under Program Area
important questions. It can also help students gain 2: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation and
transferrable skills, such as habits of mind that are
Disaster Risk Reduction.Mathematical modeling is
pervasive across subject matter" (New York City
anchored on the Realistic Mathematics Education
College of Technology, 2016). Furthermore, math
(RME) theory. It is a theory based on Hans
concepts are represented by physical or virtual objects
Freudenthal's (1905-1990) view that mathematics is
(Hampton, 2018). In addition, MM is a teacher’s
human activity. Mathematics class is not considered a
strategy that emphasized better engagement of students
place to transfer knowledge of Mathematics from a
in learning mathematics (Nuebert , 2020). Thus, many
teacher to students, but rather a place where students
mathematics teachers employed MM in their teaching
and learning process. A model is defined as a can reinvent mathematical ideas and concepts by
simplified form of a complex object or process, and exploring real problems.
modeling is a complex process that includes activities Thus, modeling activity provides opportunities for
created in many stages (She et al., 2023). In fact, the students to work with authentic questions open to
six-step iterative process involves identifying the many different interpretations and branches of
problem, making assumptions, solving the problem, mathematics that can be used to compose probable
interpreting the solution, verifying and refining the solutions to problems (Hampton, 2018). With these,
model, and reporting, explaining, predicting, and students can practice mathematics in a real problem
extending (Palines and Ortega-Dela Cruz, 2021). situation through mathematical modeling. In addition,
In the class using the MM process, the students mathematical modeling activities enhanced the skills
participated in the creative production process where of not only students in basic education but also pre-

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Psych Educ, 2023, 9: 1177-1181, Document ID:2023 PEMJ815, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8058951, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

and "Number Patterns on Earthquakes." Each of the

service school teachers in knowing the problems and three situations has four problems of increasing
carrying out plans (Koç and Elçi, 2022). Nevertheless, difficulty leading to finding the general solution to the
the researcher observed that students find connecting given problem. The student- participants were asked to
mathematical ideas to real-life experiences show their complete solution for every question with a
challenging. Also, teacher facilitators need to realize corresponding explanation or justification. Problems
the roles of creativity, communication skills, and must be translated into an organized illustration
habits of mind for the students to develop a (drawings, graphs, tables, equations, etc.), and the
mathematical model successfully. This study aimed at details (words, drawings, diagrams, etc.) must be clear
ascertaining the interrelationships among students’ an d c o m p l e t e w i t h a p p r o p r i a t e m a t h
mathematical creativity, communication skills, and language/notations/units. Their responses were scored
habits of mind after being exposed to mathematical using the rubrics. The mean score of each student
modeling of natural disasters. participant based on the rubric determined their level
of mathematical creativity, communication skills, and
habits of mind. Permission from the School Director of
Methodology the Philippine Science High School- Western Visayas
Campus was secured. After securing permission from
the School Director, the researcher seeks approval
The study participants were seven Grade 10 students at from the Teacher handling the subject matter.
Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas
Campus who are enrolled in selected topics in Student participants were given assent forms to ensure
Mathematics for the school year 2018-2019. These the confidentiality of their responses and the benefits
students chose Mathematics as their elective subject. derived from the study. Also, during the homeroom
In this subject, students were exposed to the conduct of orientation, consent forms were given to the
MM. They could develop a Math Fair as reflected in participant’s parents, highlighting the study's
the newly approved course outline of the Mathematics importance to the researcher, their child, and the
7 curriculum. All students who are enrolled in selected community. Before being exposed to mathematical
topics in Mathematics for the school year 2018-2019 modeling, pretests on mathematical creativity,
signed up for the elective course and were identified communication skills, and habits of mind were given
by the Mathematics Unit to have above-average to a student- participants. Also, a posttest was
performance in mathematics. conducted after the student- participants were exposed
to mathematical modeling. The test results on
The researcher-made test on Mathematical Creativity, Mathematical Creativity, Communication Skills, and
Communication, and Habits of Mind was used to Habits of Mind was collected and encoded into
measure students' mathematical creativity, Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS version 23.
communication skills, and habits of mind using the
Rubric Mathematical Creativity, Rubric on
Mathematical Communication, and Rubric on Results and Discussion
Mathematical HoM. Experts in the field of
mathematics validated the test and instruments.
Specifically, the test and rubrics underwent face and Students' Mathematical Creativity, Mathematical
content validity to measure what they claim to Communication Skills, and Mathematical Habits of
measure. Also, the test and rubrics were pilot-tested, Hind (HoM) Before and After they were exposed to
and the inter-rater reliability was measured to ensure Mathematical Modeling
the homogeneity of the ratings and consistency. The
rubrics for mathematical creativity (r=0.947, p=0.000), The result shows the student’s level of mathematical
mathematical communication (r=0.983, p=0.000) and creativity, mathematical communication skills, and
mathematical HoM (r=0.999, p=0.000) were found mathematical habits of mind (HoM) before and after
reliable. they were exposed to mathematical modeling.

The test is composed of three situations related to Students have a "developing" level of mathematical
natural disasters with four questions/ problems each. creativity (M=1.51, SD=0.77), a "beginning" level of
The three situations are "The Lonely Snail in Rainy mathematical communication skills (M=1.26,
Season," "Triangular Tower of Blocks during Floods," SD=0.74), and an "average" level of mathematical
habits of mind (M=1.75, SD=0.83) before being

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Psych Educ, 2023, 9: 1177-1181, Document ID:2023 PEMJ815, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8058951, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

active thought process and experience the advanced

exposed to Mathematical Modeling. thought process (Hwang, 2021). A solid combination
of creative, practical, and analytical skills is a
In addition, students have a "proficient" level of prerequisite for successfully applying mathematics in
mathematical creativity (M=2.54, SD=0.83), a various real-life contexts (Adharini and Herman,
"developing" level of mathematical communication 2021).
skills (M=2.23, SD=1.00), and a "high" level of
Also, “mathematical modeling-using mathematical
mathematical habits of mind (M=2.96, SD=1.20) after
being exposed to. approaches to understand and make decisions about
real-world phenomena- helps students gain
This means that students somehow improved their transferrable skills, such as habits of mind that are
level of mathematical creativity, mathematical pervasive across subject matter" (Hernández et al.,
communication skills, and mathematical habits of 2017).
mind (HoM) after they were exposed to mathematical
modeling. Differences in the Students' Mathematical
Creativity, Mathematical Communication Skills,
The distribution of mean scores of mathematical and Mathematical Habits of Hind (HoM) Before
creativity, mathematical communication skills, and
and After they were Exposed to Mathematical
mathematical HoM are somehow close before being
Modeling
exposed to MM, as shown by the standard deviations.
It suggests that students have the same level of
The data reveals the differences in the student’s level
understanding and ability on the approach to how to
of mathematical creativity, mathematical
answer the given test. But after being exposed to MM,
communication skills, and mathematical habits of
students’ mean scores on mathematical creativity,
mind (HoM) before and after they were exposed to
mathematical communication skills, and mathematical
mathematical modeling.
HoM become more diverse than before being exposed
to MM. This is due to the fact that students were It further reveals a significant difference in the
exposed to a lecture- workshop on pattern finding that student’s level of mathematical creativity (Z=2.366,
is more focused on finding the general term of the
p=0.018) before and after they were exposed to
given sequence. Also in mathematical modeling
mathematical modeling. The results suggest that
activities where the students were able to translate
students significantly increased their mathematical
problems into an organized illustration and the use of
creativity level after being exposed to mathematical
appropriate math language/notations/units.
modeling.
Table 1 shows the data.
The result was supported by the study conducted by
Table 1. Students' Mathematical Creativity, Chamberlin and Moon, which states that students that
show an extraordinary ability to create new and useful
Mathematical Communication Skills, and
solutions for complex and simulated real-world
Mathematical Habits of Hind (HoM) Before and After
problems through mathematical modeling possess
they were exposed to Mathematical Modeling creative mathematical talent (Saputri et al., 2022).

Also, there is a significant difference in the student’s

mathematical communication skills (Z=2.366,
p=0.018) before and after they were exposed to
mathematical modeling. This indicates that students
significantly improved their mathematical
communication skills after exposure to mathematical
modeling.
As a matter of fact, "Learning mathematics, and doing
mathematics, involves talking mathematics: the more To support the study's results, this communication
we talk mathematics, the better we learn it and do it" difference has been investigated by previous research
conducted and showed that m athematical
(Herawaty et al., 2019). Indeed, the Mathematical
communication ability differs significantly between
Modeling activity allows students to participate in an
students using inquiry learning and students using

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Psych Educ, 2023, 9: 1177-1181, Document ID:2023 PEMJ815, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8058951, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

conventional learning. Moreover, realistic mathematics 87.80% (r2=0.8780) of the variance in students'
education improves students' mathematical mathematical communication skills is accounted for by
communication ability compared with traditional the students' mathematical habits of mind (HoM).
teaching (Hasibuan, 2017).
The results somehow validated the creative product
Lastly, a significant difference existed in the students' production model proposed by Kim where students
mathematical habits of mind (HoM) (Z=2.366, used mathematical knowledge, inquiry skill, and
p=0.018) before and after they were exposed to thinking to produce a mathematical product (Hwang,
mathematical modeling. This result entails that 2021). The problems in mathematical modeling should
students developed mathematical habits of mind after be solvable through mathematical knowledge such as
being exposed to mathematical modeling (HoM). mathematical concepts, mathematical language, and
methods of proof (Hampton, 2018). In addition, the
Hence, mathematical modeling activity allows students problem should be solvable by mathematical inquiry
to participate in an active thought process and skills according to the mathematical model the student
experience the advanced thought process (Hwang, chooses, and students can think a lot mathematically in
2021). And employing habits of mind means the mathematical modeling (Hwang, 2021).
inclination and ability to choose effective patterns of
intellectual behavior [12].
Conclusion
Relationship among Students' Mathematical
Creativity, Mathematical Communication Skills,
Based on the quantitative study's findings, the
and Mathematical Habits of Hind (HoM) After researcher drew the following conclusions. Seemingly,
Being Exposed to Mathematical Modeling students have increased their mathematical creativity,
habits of mind, and communication skills after being
The data shows the relationships among students' exposed to mathematical modeling. Mathematical
mathematical creativity, mathematical communication modeling effectively enhances students' mathematical
skills, and mathematical habits of mind (HoM) after creativity, habits of mind, and communication skills.
they were exposed to mathematical modeling. Students' mathematical creativity, habits of mind, and
communication skills are interrelated after being
A significant relationship, specifically, a solid exposed to mathematical modeling. An increase in the
relationship, existed between students' mathematical level of mathematical habits of mind entails increasing
creativity and mathematical communication skills the level of m ath em at ica l creativ ity and
(r=0.937, p=0.002). This means that as the level of communication when doing a mathematical modeling
mathematical creativity increases, the level of activity. The results somehow validated the creative
mathematical communication skills also increases. In product production model proposed by Kim [13],
fact, 87.80% (r2=0.8780) of the variance in students' where students used mathematical knowledge, inquiry
mathematical communication skills is accounted for by skill, and thinking to produce a mathematical product.
the students' mathematical creativity.

Also, a significant relationship, specifically, a very References

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