Classroom Social Dynamics in Learning Measurement: Evidence from Contextual Learning Situations

Abstract

Measurement is a fundamental domain of mathematics that connects formal mathematical concepts with everyday experiences. Despite its practical relevance, students often experience persistent difficulties in understanding measurement conceptually, tending to approach it as a procedural activity rather than as a process of reasoning about quantities, units, and comparisons. These challenges indicate that learning measurement is influenced not only by individual cognitive factors but also by the social dynamics that shape classroom learning environments. This study aims to examine classroom social dynamics in learning measurement by providing empirical evidence from contextual learning situations. This study employed a qualitative research approach to explore how social interaction, scaffolding, and participation mediate students’ understanding of measurement in contextual learning environments. Data were collected through classroom observations, video recordings of learning activities, analysis of students’ written work, and interviews with selected students and the teacher. Contextual measurement tasks were designed to encourage collaboration, dialogue, and justification, enabling the examination of student–student and teacher–student interactions as they naturally occurred in the classroom. Data analysis was conducted iteratively to identify patterns of interaction, forms of scaffolding, and students’ learning progression within the Zone of Proximal Development. The findings reveal that students initially engaged with measurement tasks in a predominantly procedural manner, with limited conceptual understanding and minimal peer interaction. After the implementation of contextual learning situations, classroom social dynamics changed substantially. Students became more actively involved in discussion, collaborative problem-solving, and collective meaning-making. Peer interaction supported the articulation and refinement of students’ reasoning, while teacher scaffolding guided learning by extending students’ thinking without providing direct solutions. These social processes facilitated students’ movement from their actual level of understanding toward higher levels of conceptual competence within the Zone of Proximal Development. The study further shows that contextual learning tasks alone are insufficient to promote meaningful understanding unless they are supported by productive social interaction and adaptive scaffolding. Conceptual understanding of measurement emerged through socially mediated processes rather than through task completion alone. This study contributes to mathematics education research by emphasizing the central role of classroom social dynamics in contextual learning and by offering insights into how interaction and scaffolding can be orchestrated to support students’ conceptual understanding of measurement.