Designing teaching instructions catering students’ needs: teaching solid geometry through problem-based learning (PBL)

In a mathematics classroom, students are diverse. They have different learning styles, interests, readiness, paces and abilities. It is challenging to know how each student learns and what learning methods appropriate for him or her. Thus, teachers need to be assisted in developing appropriate instructions based on students' needs. This issue prompted the researchers to find learning with a model that meets the needs of students on the volume of prism topic. The researchers have developed the learning materials on the volume of prism topic using problem-based learning (PBL). The appropriateness of the learning implementation to the students' needs then needs to be analyzed. The study involved 66 eighth graders in a junior high school in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Data in this study were obtained from students' achievement after the PBL implementation and analyzed using Fisher's discriminant analysis. The finding showed that 50 students were in a successful group and 16 students were considered unsuccessful. This finding implies that the PBL accommodated the needs of the majority of students. Further, identifying characteristics of the two groups is necessary to modify the learning that has been previously developed to meet the needs of the unsuccessful group.