The Elementary Education Study Program held a Guest Lecture titled "Explaining Strategy of Teaching Math Concepts" on Tuesday, November 18, 2025. This event featured expert speaker Jamiu Temitope Sulaiman, B.Ed., M.Ed., TRCN, who provided in-depth insights into effective strategies for explaining mathematical concepts to elementary school students. The event was moderated by Dr. Mohammad Archi Maulyda, M.Pd., an alumnus of UNY's doctoral program in elementary education.
This online event was attended by students, lecturers, and education practitioners from various institutions. The enthusiasm of the participants was evident in the high level of participation in the interactive discussion and Q&A sessions.
In their presentation, the speaker emphasised the importance of the ability to simplify mathematical concepts, connect the material to real-life contexts, and use visual representations and concrete manipulatives to enhance student understanding. Additionally, the explaining strategy also emphasises how educators can build a coherent, logical explanation flow that aligns with children's cognitive development. The speaker also highlighted the need to understand students' common misconceptions so that the explanations provided can be more targeted. Various examples of effective teaching practices were also presented, ranging from the use of illustrations and reinforcing prerequisite concepts to questioning techniques that stimulate critical thinking.
Head of the Department of Elementary Education, FIP UNY, Dr. H. Fery Muhamad Firdaus, M.Pd, stated that this Guest Lecture activity is an effort to strengthen students' pedagogical competence, particularly in the mathematics education course. "Through this activity, we hope students can understand how to present mathematical concepts in an engaging, easily understandable, and appropriate manner for elementary school students," he said.
At the end of the session, participants had the opportunity to discuss directly with the speaker about the challenges frequently encountered in teaching mathematics, as well as solutions that can be implemented in classroom learning.
This Guest Lecture activity is expected to provide inspiration and new insights for prospective teachers and education practitioners in implementing effective explaining strategies to improve the quality of mathematics learning in elementary schools.