Strategies for Mastering the Concept of Multiplication Operations among Primary School: A Systematic Literature Review

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Strategies for Mastering the Concept of Multiplication Operations among Primary School: A Systematic Literature

Review

Mohd Adi Afandi Mahmud^1*, Aidah Abdul Rahim¹

1 Education Faculty, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

* Corresponding Author: [email protected] Accepted: 15 March 2023 | Published: 31 March 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2023.5.1.17

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Abstract: Mastery of basic concepts in a mathematics is the backbone of students' understanding of any mathematics’s topic. For example, a failure to master multiplication operation skills will lead to students’ difficulty to learn multiplication operations. This study aimed to identify learning strategies for helping year five students to master the concept of multiplication operation skills. The study emplyed systematic literature review approach that used on journal articles from Google Scholar and ERIC databases published between 2018 and 2022. The results of this study showed that digital gaming activities are the most dominant strategies employed by teachers for teaching multiplication concepts at primary schools. In line with the huge and freely available online aplication in internet, this strategies are becoming a choice for teachers to engage children in mathematics learning activities because the strategies could increase students’ motivation and understanding of multiplication of basic concepts.

Keywords: gamification, mathematics, multiplication, primary schools

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1. Introduction

One of the key subjects in education is mathematics, whose mastery and excellence serve as the cornerstone of a developed nation (Bertillo, 2020). Since the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) started implementing mathematics as a required subject in the new Primary School Curriculum (KBSR), the priority of mathematics subjects in our nation's education is becoming more focused and taken seriously (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2013). As post- globalization has advanced quickly in the 21st century, MOE has reassessed the way mathematics is taught in secondary and elementary schools beginning in 2011 in order to create curricula of global standards (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2018). In addition, our nation's educational system wants to ensure that the future generation is capable of meeting demands while also being creative, imaginative, and mathematically minded. As a result, it can be seen that student mentoring has been used throughout primary education to help students acquire counting skills through quantitative thinking in accordance with logical steps. (May et. al, 2018).

Mathematics Education In Primary Schools

The general populace believes and assumes that mathematics is a "killer subject" or a tough topic that is more difficult to master than other disciplines, even at the primary school level.

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Nevertheless, government efforts go on, and the timeline of mathematics education shows how teaching and learning have changed over time. In addition to changing the curriculum, mathematics education's teaching and learning (T&L) has also undergone substantial modifications in terms of methodology. One of the challenges in teaching mathematics at the elementary school level, for instance, is getting students to fully comprehend multiplication, one of the other four basics of operations, which is essential for understanding many more complicated ideas in the calculation and arithmetic universe. Mastering and to get past the challenges of this subject, a number of teaching aids have been developed and provided. The use of the multiplication basis is vast and essential in solving most mathematical problems, such as those involving fractions, decimals, measurement of distance, daily mathematics, money, scales, time, and period. This implies that we must offer systematic and efficient instruction, notably in mathematics, a significant branch of important fields like science, technology, and informatics, and others (Ishak et. al, 2021). As a result, it is appropriate for students at this level to be proficient in mathematics, particularly the fundamentals of multiplication. Ultimately, math is a critical and important topic. It is also a core pillar of Malaysia's educational system. The objective of mathematics education is to create citizens who can solve issues they have never faced in addition to being able to apply what they have learnt in real-world contexts. This is as stated (Rottmann et. al, 2018) in which mastery of mathematics has become the foundation for all knowledge domains in the area of education.

Issues and challenges with the subject of multiplication

Weaknesses in the knowledge of basic maths concepts, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, begin with primary school kids and are likely to persist into secondary school. This leads to low achievement in mathematics disciplines. The fundamental concept of these four operations is likewise acknowledged to be difficult and challenging for students to understand (Mazana et al., 2019). In the context of primary school, pupils frequently find it challenging and difficult to grasp multiplication skills involving three-digit numbers and two-digit numbers. The majority of kids do not memorise the numbers and, more crucially, do not comprehend how multiplication works (Ahad et.al, 2018). Calculations are performed more quickly and easily by using multiplication than by addition operation. In the study by Ahad et al. (2018), other mistakes included students not knowing how to begin the multiplication process (so that students leave blank space), placing numbers incorrectly in partial multiplication situations, forgetting the multiplication table so they entered the wrong numbers in the answer, and overlooking during performing multiplication operations. According to a study by Flores et al. (2019), children are unable to perform computations involving numbers that are not encoded in a mathematical multiplication table. One of the frequent errors made by pupils is when they write numbers in the standard written form and during the process of regrouping (Dewi et. Al, 2020). Additionally, other studies have demonstrated that when students perform calculations involving the multiplication of three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers, they frequently make conceptual errors, place value errors, and careless counting errors (Fakhiroh et. al, 2021). Students will have a rough lifetime if they do not grasp multiplication by the time, they reach primary school because it is necessary for daily living as well as schooling. Many people are concerned about this, notably teachers and parents who are worried about the welfare and future of their children. Researchers have conducted a number of studies on methods, techniques, and approaches for teaching children in elementary school how to learn the subject of multiplication. The purpose of this study is to examine the strategies and procedures that have been investigated and recognized by teachers and researchers in order to provide mathematics teachers with a resource for more successful classroom instruction.

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Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the methods used by primary school kids to master the notion of multiplication operations. The following two research questions were developed to fulfil the study's goal:

i. What is the dominant strategy in mastering the concept of multiplication among primary school students?

ii. What is the level of effectiveness of the dominant strategy in the mastery of the concept of multiplication among primary school students on the academic performance of students?

2. Literature Review

Methods In Mastering The Concept Of Multiplication

The delivery of the teaching in its various parts is what is referred to as the teaching method. It will be successful if aided by efficient teaching strategies so that the students' conceptual construction can be made simpler. In order to enhance students' thinking, experience, and enthusiasm in acquiring particular concepts, Ng Beng Seng and Siti Mistima Maat(2020) contend that math’s teachers should find a variety of problem-solving techniques. This is due to the fact that each student has a unique learning profile and comes from a variety of backgrounds. In order for pupils to successfully understand the fundamentals of mathematics, instructors must always be strongly devoted to finding the right approaches based on each student's needs and preferences.

One of the key concepts in the study of mathematics is multiplication, which is first taught in primary schools. According to a study by Johari et al. (2021), there is a lot of relevance between the concept of multiplication and other topics like division, fractions, percentages, and so forth.

If students struggle to master it, it will affect the teaching and learning process in the classroom in a number of ways. (Mazana et. al., 2019). In order for mathematics teachers to be prepared for teaching and learning in the classroom, scholars have extensively discussed methods to master the subject of multiplication. This is in line with the study made by Ku et. al (2018) said that the variety of research methodologies can give math’s teachers fresh insights into how to enhance their classroom instruction. Multiplication-related research is a popular study to implement each year. This is because numerous challenges or issues of pupils who are still poor in the fundamental concept of multiplication have arisen. For the development of our nation, which requires a sensible development actor in preparing something, this circumstance is quite concerning for many parties.

According to research by Johari et al. (2021), the majority of students still do not comprehend the fundamentals of multiplication. Additionally, a study by Alghazo & Alghazo (2017) found that when students are completing problems involving the multiplication of two or more numbers, they frequently arrange the two or more digits incorrectly. According to research by Johari et al. (2021), the majority of students still do not comprehend the fundamentals of multiplication. According to researchers, this subject of multiplication becomes more challenging when operations use two digits with two digits or more. Additionally, a study by Alghazo & Alghazo (2017) found that when students are completing problems involving the multiplication of two or more numbers, they frequently arrange the two or more digits incorrectly. In this study it is also said that students feel unmotivated to memories numbers due to the topic of multiplication being the most difficult topic in mathematics. Summaries of problems or issues that arise in the topic of multiplication indicate that students have weaknesses in mastering basic concepts or facts in multiplication operations.

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There are various teaching techniques, methods and strategies that have been identified, created, and innovated by teachers and researchers to help students master the topic of multiplication. Among the well -known methods in the topic of Multiplication are the Lattice method (Purwanti et. al 2020). The Napier Bone method (Ishak et. al, 2021), the Common Shape method and the Russian Peasant method (Ariffin et. al, 2018). The stated methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. The Napier Lattice and Bone method is a method that requires students to prepare special squares for multiplication. For the Lattice Method, students need to multiply the numbers and add diagonally while the Napier Bone method students need to provide the multiplication table from 1 to 9 systematically.

The multiplication table is counted as a reference when answering a multiplication question.

According to a study made by Purwanti et. al (2020), the disadvantage of these two methods is that students will take a long time to prepare the plot. The Russian Peasant method does not require students to multiply, instead students need to master the skills of multiplying numbers and dividing numbers by two. This method is very helpful for students who do not remember the basic facts of multiplication. However, the weakness of students will be easily confused when choosing numbers to add (Himmah et. al, 2021). In addition, according to him, mistakes are also easy to occur when involving the multiplication of large numbers that require repeated multiplication and division processes.

In conclusion, effective teaching and learning requires a variety of strategies and methods to meet the needs of each student, especially in the topic of multiplication. The effectiveness of a strategy depends on the level of student acceptance, learning profile and teaching practices implemented by teachers (Crystanti, I. (2018). Therefore, every teacher should use several strategies in the process of learning the topic of multiplication in order to meet the method of student learning more effectively.

3. Methodology

3.1 Research Methods

This study uses a systematic literature review to select past studies related to strategies/techniques in the mastery of multiplication operation concept skills among primary school students.

3.2 Study Criteria

Included in this section are some selection criteria before the data retrieval process is carried out. Among the criteria are articles written in Malay or English and conducted locally and abroad. The selected study should clearly take the form of a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed study. The selected literature review consisted of journals and articles only. The year of publication of the selection of journals and articles is from 2018 to 2022. The selection of these criteria can help to a more structured, reliable and detailed data search process.

3.3 Search Strategies

There are two search engines in the database used to find articles and journals namely Google Scholar and Eric. Both of these engines have features that are suitable for search for research i.e., have many high-indexed articles and journals. The keywords used on these two search engines are “strategies in mastering the topic of multiplication”, “multiplication operation techniques at the primary school level”, and “methods of mastering the concept of multiplication among primary school students”.

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3.4 PRISMA Model

The PRISMA model (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) can help researchers to begin the process of searching and filtering articles systematically and comprehensively. Through the PRISMA review model, the researcher divided the procedure into three stages, namely (1) identification stage, (2) screening stage and (3) inclusion stage (Page et al., 2021).

3.4.1 Level of identification

There are 235 articles and journals available in Eric’s database. In Google Scholar there are 755 articles and journals. The combined total number of articles and journals from both search engines are 990.

3.4.2 Screening stage

A total of 455 journal articles released due to sources obtained were non -journals and articles from Google Scholar and a total of 150 from ERIC. For the screening of journal articles that did not have full access, a total of 176 journal articles from google scholar

and a total of 60 journal articles from ERIC were removed. Next, for journal articles that did not meet the set criteria such as year and method of study, a total of 50 journal articles were removed from Google Scholar. Only 7 journal articles from ERIC were released at this screening stage. The final screening was for journal articles that did not

meet the specified scope of the study and found that a total of 58 journal articles were removed from Google Scholar while only 13 journal articles were removed from ERIC.

3.4.3 Level of inclusion (included)

In summary, this study used 30 journal articles to analyze and synthesize for the objectives of this study. A brief description of the use of the PRISMA Model can be found in Figure 1.

Figure 1: PRISMA flow chart Record identified from the database:

Google Scholar = 755; ERIC = 235 N = 990

Filtered records:

Data screening for sources that are not journal and articles:

Does not have full access:

Does not meet the specifies criteria (year, study method):

Does not meet the scope of the study specified:

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4. Findings of the study

Based on the selected articles, the researcher will divide the findings into several parts, namely the background of study participants, type of school, study location, study design, mastery strategy of multiplication operation concept skills among primary school

students and the effectiveness of strategies on student performance.

4.1 Study of participants

Based on 30 articles and research journals reviewed and analyses, the study sample consisted of students at the primary school level and primary school mathematics teachers. Primary school students can be divided into two levels, namely level one students (year 1 to year 3) and level two students (year 4 to year 6). The topic of multiplication is one of the topics that is difficult for primary school students to master. Therefore, this study selected primary school students and primary school mathematics teachers as study participants.

Table 1: Study Sample

No Study Sample Total Author (Year)

1 Level one students (years 1-3)

318 Himmah et.al (2021), Ramli et.al (2020), Janjam et. al (2018), Ahad (2018), Hwai (2019), Ching (2019), Gotze, D (2019), Pin et. al (2021), Armugam et.

al (2021), Yee et. al (2021), Fakhiroh et. al (2021), Rottmann et. al (2018) 2 Level two

Students (years 4-6)

521 Ali et.al (2021), Milton et.al (2019), Ariffin et.al (2018) Bertillo (2020), Ishak et.al (2021), Dewi et. al (2020), Ku et. al (2018), Ilukena et.al (2020), Purwanti et.al (2020), Milton et.al (2019), Bertillo (2020), Ozenc et.al (2020), Widada et. al (2020)

3 Primary school mathematics teacher

260 Hwai (2019), May et. al (2018), Ishak et. al (2021), Kamarudin et. al (2022), Ilukena et.al (2020), Hendriana et. al (2019), Leonardou et.al (2021)

4 Not stated - Crystanti, I. (2018)

Total 1099

4.2 Study Location

The selected articles are studies conducted in Malaysia and outside Malaysia.

Table 2: Study location

No Country/State Total Author (Year)

1 Malaysia Johor 5 Ku et al (2021), Ahad et. al (2018), Janjam et. al (2018), Ariffin et.al (2018), Ali et. al (2021)

Perak 5 Yee et.al (2021), Armugam et.al (2021), Pin et.al (2021), Amira Mohd Ishak et. al (2021), May et. al (2018) Sarawak 2 Ching (2019), Hwai (2019)

Selangor 2 Kamarudin et.al (2022), Ramli et. al (2020)

Total 14

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2 Outside Malaysia

German 2 Rottmann et. al (2018), Gotze, D. (2019) Greece 1 Leonardou et.al (2021),

Indonesia 7 Crystanti, I. (2018), Hendriana et. al (2019), Fakhiroh et.al (2021), Purwanti et.al (2020), Dewi et.al (2020), Himmah et. al (2021), Widada et. al (2020)

Namibia 1 Ilukena et.al (2020)

Philippines 2 Bertillo (2020), Bertillo (2020) Turkey 1 Ozenc et.al (2020),

United States of America (USA)

2 Milton et.al (2019), Flores et. al (2019)

Total 16

Overall Total 30

4.3 Research Design

Based on the study analyses, there are three types of design used in the journal articles used for this study namely quantitative study, qualitative study, and mixed study.

Table 3: Research Design No Study

Design

Total Author (Year)

1 Quantitative study

17 Flores et. al (2019), Ali et. al (2021), Ramli et. al (2020), Ariffin et. al (2018), Janjam et. al (2018), Ahad et. al (2018), Bertillo (2020), May et. al (2018), Dewi et. al (2020), Ku et. al (2018), Yee et. al (2021), Purwanti et. al (2020), Fakhiroh et. al (2021), Milton et. al (2019), Bertillo (2020), Ozenc et. al (2020),

Leonardou et. al (2021) 2 Qualitative

study

11 Widada et. al (2020), Himmah et. al (2021), Hwai (2019), Ching (2019), Gotze, D. (2019), Ishak & Rahman (2021), Kamarudin et. al (2022), Pin et. al (2021), Hendriana et. al (2019), Rottmann et. al (2018), Crystanti, I. (2018)

3 Mixed study 2 Armugam & Ali (2021), Ilukena et.al (2020)

Total 30

4.4 Strategies in Mastering the Concept of Multiplication Operation Skills Among Primary School Pupils

The findings of the study indicate that there are several strategies and techniques in the mastery of the topic of multiplication among primary school students.

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Table 4: Strategies in Mastering the Concept of Multiplication Operation Skills Among Primary School Pupils

No Strategies in Mastering the Concept of Multiplication Operation Skills Among Primary

School Pupils

Total Author (Year)

1 Game -based physical activity (dakon, grundvorstellungen)

2 Rottmann et.al (2018), Widada et. al (2020)

2 Game-based digital activities (zero run, Forest Multiplication,

Multiplication Game (MG), P-Jmat)

5 Ozenc et. al (2020), Ishak & Rahman (2021), Ramli et. al (2020), Ali et. al (2021), Leonardou et. al (2021) 3 Activities using fingers (Magic

Finger, Jarimatika)

5 Bertillo (2020), Purwanti et. al (2020), Dewi et.al (2020), Himmah et. al (2021), Bertillo (2020)

4 Concrete Representational Abstract Sequence (CRA)

2 Milton et. al (2019), Flores & Hinton (2019)

5 Methods through pictures and shapes (Circle Bar, Drawing Diagrams, Box Out, KIJO)

4 Yee et. al (2021), Ariffin et. al (2018), Pin & Hashim (2021), Janjam &

Mukhtar (2018) 6 Method through lines (Lattice, Cross

Line)

3 Ilukena et.al (2020), Ku et. al (2018), Ching (2019) 7 Methods through multiplication

(Multiplication Drawer, Zero Box, multiplication book, quick multiplication table)

5 Armugam & Ali (2021), Crystanti, I.

(2018), Hwai (2019), Ahad et. al (2018), Kamarudin et. al (2022),

8 Learning modules (DoCtor WoRM's, Math Gasing, Drill)

3 May et. al (2018), Hendriana et. al (2019), Fakhiroh et. al (2021)

9 Language sensitive support 1 Gotze, D. (2019)

Total 30

4.5 Effectiveness of mastery strategies in multiplication

There are 4 impacts identified through the results of the analysis of journal articles in this study.

Among the impacts are student achievement and performance, motivation, understanding of concepts and accessibility of information

Table 5: Effectiveness of mastery strategies in multiplication among primary school students No Strategies in Mastering the Concept of

Multiplication Operation Skills Among Primary School Pupils

Effectiveness of mastery strategies in multiplication

1 Game -based physical activity (dakon, grundvorstellungen)

understanding the basic concepts of multiplication, student motivation 2 Game-based digital activities (zero run, Forest

Multiplication, Multiplication Game (MG), P- Jmat)

student achievement, understanding the basic concepts of multiplication, student motivation

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3 Activities using fingers (Magic Finger, Jarimatika)

student achievement, understanding the basic concepts of multiplication 4 Concrete Representational Abstract

Sequence (CRA)

understanding the basic concepts of multiplication

5 Methods through pictures and shapes (Circle Bar, Drawing Diagrams, Box Out, KIJO)

6 Method through lines (Lattice, Cross Line) student achievement accessibility of information, student motivation.

7 Methods through multiplication (Multiplication Drawer, Zero Box, multiplication book, quick multiplication table)

accessibility of information, student achievement, understanding the basic concepts of multiplication

8 Learning modules (DoCtor WoRM's, Maths Gasing, Drill)

9 Language sensitive support student achievement, understanding the basic concepts of multiplication

5. Discussion

Preparation before the teaching and learning process is a very important step made by every teacher so that learning can be implemented smoothly (Johari & Gapi 2019). This study focuses on the primary school level as study participants covering level 1, level 2 students, and primary school mathematics teachers. The involvement of primary school mathematics teachers in this study can help achieve the objectives of the study where teachers are developmental actors in education who implement teaching methods/strategies in the classroom. Teachers are more adept at using appropriate strategies according to the needs and abilities of each of their students (Ibhahim et. al, 2021). Therefore, the study participants for this research are 1099 students and teachers consisting of year level students (grades 1-3) a total of 318 students, second level students (grades 4-6) a total of 512 students and primary school mathematics teachers with a total of 260 teachers. However, there was one study that did not say the number of study participants involved in the study. The selection of study participants is important so that the selected respondents meet the characteristics of a study. Respondents who do not meet the specified characteristics will result in inaccurate and inaccurate findings (Khuzairi et. al, 2020).

The study location in this study is a collection of journal articles from Malaysia and outside Malaysia. A total of 14 journal articles from Malaysia and 16 journal articles from outside Malaysia were selected for this study. For journal articles from Malaysia, Johor and Perak are the highest states with 5 journal articles in the study on the topic of multiplication among primary school students while journal articles from outside Malaysia, Indonesia stated the highest number of journal articles with 7 journal articles in the study on strategies of multiplication topics among primary school students. So, the location of this study is not only focused on students in Malaysia only but considers the problems of students in the topic of multiplication other than Malaysia such as Indonesia, Germany, Greece, Namibia, Philippines, Turkey, and the United States of America (USA).

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The research design found in this research were qualitative, quantitative, and mixed studies. A total of 17 journal articles that use quantitative design as a research methodology by using questionnaire, quasi -experimental and survey research approach while a total of 11 journal articles that use qualitative design by using action research approach, historical study, and case study. Only 2 journal articles used a mixed study design. The selection of study design must be appropriate according to the requirements of the objectives of each study. The error in the selection of the study design caused the study to be of poor quality and difficult to analyses the data. (Kangungu & Yatim, 2020).

This study focused to two research questions, the first question is the dominant strategy in mastering the concept of multiplication among primary school students and the second question is the level of effectiveness of the dominant strategy in mastering the concept of multiplication of primary school students on student academic performance. The results indicated that there nine strategies that have been employded worldwide to help students in primary schools to master multiplication operation skills. The strategies include the following:

of the study can be referred to below:

i. Game-based physical activity (dakon, grundvorstellungen)

ii. Game-based digital activities (zero run, Forest Multiplication, Multiplication Game (MG), P-Jmat)

iii. Finger activity (Magic Finger, Jarimatika)

iv. Concrete Representational Abstract Sequence (CRA)

v. Methods through pictures and shapes (Circle Bar, Drawing Diagrams, Box Out, KIJO) vi. Method through lines (Lattice, Cross Line)

vii. Methods through smart multiplication table (Multiplication Drawer, Zero Box, multiplication table book, quick multiplication table)

viii. Learning modules (DoCtor WoRM’s, Maths Gasing, Drill) ix. Language Sensitive Support

Furthermore, the study identified that game-based digital activities are the dominant strategy in mastering the concept of multiplication among primary school students. It can be proved that out of 30 selected journal articles, six journal articles discuss the use of game-based digital activities in improving the mastery of primary school students in the topic of multiplication.

Additionally, the multiplication table is the second most popular to help primary school students to learn multiplication. There are five journal articles discussing the use of multiplication tables in improving students’ mastery in the topic of multiplication. Since multiplication tables are core to the topic of multiplication, proficiency in multiplication tables is essential to enable students to answer multiplication questions. The study also illustrated that finger-using activities and teaching methods through pictures and shapes is the third most popular strategy to be used in multiplication teaching and learning process. There are four journal articles that discussed finger-using activities and four journal articles that elaborated teaching multiplication using pictures and shapes. Finally the study found that supportive language strategies are the least popular strategies to teach multiplication in primary schools.

The study also suggested that there are four impacts of using game based digital actives in students’ learning multplication in primary schools. The impacts include students’

improvement in multiplication achievement and performance, basic concepts of multiplication, motivation towards the topic of multiplication, and knowledge transfer on the basic concepts of multiplication. The results of the data analysis found that each strategy identified had a certain level of effectiveness. The findings of the study can be briefly referred to in table 5.

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Based on table 5, it can be concluded that the method through smart multiplication table (multiplication drawer, multiplication table box, multiplication table book, quick multiplication table) has given an effective impact to the teaching and learning process in the classroom that is efficient knowledge transfer, understanding of the basic concepts of multiplication and improvement of student performance. The impact of information access shows that the teacher successfully conveys some information or facts about the basic concept of multiplication.

Next, students can understand the basic concepts of multiplication well and eventually can improve the performance of primary school students in mathematics education, especially the topic of multiplication. The impact of conveying information efficiently is important impact so that teachers can convey information accurately and quickly (Armugam & Ali, 2021).

Therefore, every teacher must learn the correct method to convey information according to the level and ability of each student so that the information to be conveyed can be processed well by students as well as provide understanding to students.

The most dominant strategy in this study is game-based digital activities. To answer the second research question, the second research question would like to look at the dominant strategies on student achievement performance in the topic of multiplication. Among the effectiveness of strategies that use game-based digital activities are developing student motivation in the topic of multiplication, understanding of the basic concepts of multiplication and improving student academic performance in the topic of multiplication. This strategy has proven that game-based learning can improve the academic achievement of every student at the primary school level.

This is in line with the study made by Dube & Robinson (2018) who said that the use of game -based teaching aids can improve students' academic achievement in mathematics due to students being easier to understand a concept through play. The finding resonated well with thai et. al (2016) that found the effectiveness of any learning process depends on the proper learning strategies used by the teacher. this findings are also in line with Ng & Maat (2020) who said that every teacher should be given training and courses at least six months a year on acquirinng and master latest teaching strategies in order to improve teachers' skills and knowledge in planning and implementing effective teaching and learning strategies.

6. Conclusion

In conclusion, primary school students can grasp the basic concept of multiplication through digital games in line with current technological developments. Primary school students today are a group of alpha genes who learn a lot through the use of technology. Therefore, the use of digital tools is easier to give understanding to students. The effectiveness of using a technological tool approach in the learning process can increase the level of motivation of each student and the academic performance of students. This depends on the willingness of teachers to implement technology and game-based learning processes. Therefore, preparation with care by each teacher is important so that each teacher knows the level of ability of each student to accept the learning approach. It has been estalished learning process is effective depending on the methods or strategies used by the teacher. This study indicated that the use of game-based digital tools is a strategy often used by primary school mathematics teachers in the topic of multiplication because the strategy has a positive impact on the level of students’ achievement.

Providing training to use latest computer applications to mathematics teachers in primary schools is one of the ways to encourage teachers to employed game-based digital strategies during classroom learning. Accordingly, collaborative efforts between various stakeholders to ensure the use of technology in mathematics classroom learning is a continues efforts in

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primary to ensure that students can understand the basic concepts of mathematical topics and ultimately becoming competitive and first classs citizens of the world.

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