INVESTIGATING THE USE OF GAMES AND GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS IN TEACHING MATHEMATICS TO JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PATNANUNGAN DISTRICT

The main thrust of the study was to analyze the significance of games and graphic organizers in teaching mathematics performance among junior high school students at Patnanungan District. The study utilized survey questionnaire with eighteen Mathematics JHS teacher and three hundred sixty Grade 7 JHS students as respondents. In an effort to engage children in mathematics learning, many secondary teachers like teachers in Patnanungan district used mathematical games and graphic organizers for better learning delivery in time of pandemic. The effectiveness of games as a pedagogical tool requires further examination if to be employed for the teaching mathematical concepts. Gaming and utilization of graphic organizers in education may be perceived as distraction from learning, but its purpose is to increase students' motivation and engagement, improve visual skills, improve students' interaction with their peers, and enable them to apply gaming values in a real-world situation. The above-mentioned problem using games and graphic organizers put under test conditions suggests that educators should carefully consider the application and appropriateness of games before employing them as a vehicle for introducing mathematical concepts. Thus, this makes put an interest to the researcher to deal with the study. The correlation analysis, specifically Spearman Rho Rank Correlation, revealed significant relationship between utilization and effectiveness of graphic organizer in teaching mathematics (r = .272; p-value = .000); since the computed p-value is less than the 0.05 level of significance. The findings implied that the higher the utilization of graphic organizer in teaching mathematics, the better is the effectiveness.