The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is an international study that assesses adults’ literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills in real-life contexts. Mathematical competence is no longer understood merely as mastery of formulas, but as the ability to reason and make decisions in authentic situations. This issue has become an important concern in the future development of the Mathematics Education Study Program at Universitas Alma Ata Yogyakarta, which aims to prepare prospective educators capable of fostering numeracy competencies that are relevant to global needs.
In PIAAC, numeracy is defined as the ability to understand, use, and interpret mathematical information across various contexts, ranging from finance and employment to technology. This implies that mathematics instruction in schools and higher education must be directed toward strengthening critical thinking, mathematical modeling, and data-driven decision-making skills. At Alma Ata Mathematics Education, learning through contextual and realistic approaches has been initiated as a primary strategy to bridge mathematics learning with real-life challenges.
For prospective mathematics teachers, an understanding of the PIAAC framework is essential to enable them to design learning experiences that go beyond procedural practice alone. Instruction should provide opportunities for students to reason, interpret data, and solve open-ended problems. Furthermore, PIAAC emphasizes the importance of adaptive skills amid technological advancement and changes in the world of work. Strong mathematical literacy enables individuals to comprehend digital information, graphs, simple algorithms, and the logic of automated systems.
By adopting PIAAC as one of its conceptual references, the Mathematics Education Study Program at Alma Ata aims to produce graduates who are capable of developing meaningful, applicable, and globally competitive mathematics learning. Mathematical literacy is not merely an academic target, but an essential life skill for learners in the era of globalization and artificial intelligence.
Penulis : Rino Richardo