Exploring pre-service mathematics teachers’ numeracy development through art-integrated STEAM geometry: Balancing creativity and mathematical precision

Abstrak

Numeracy constitutes a critical professional competency for pre-service mathematics teachers (PMTs), particularly in relation to applying mathematical ideas meaningfully within interdisciplinary contexts. Guided by contemporary frameworks of numeracy and spatial reasoning, this study investigates how PMTs demonstrate conceptual understanding, mathematical reasoning, contextual application, and representational flexibility when engaging in art-integrated STEAM geometry tasks. The study employed a qualitative-dominant convergent parallel mixed-methods case study design, supported by supplementary descriptive survey data. Participants were 28 PMTs enrolled in a private teacher education program in Central Java, Indonesia. STEAM-based problem-solving artifacts served as the primary data source, while a post-task perception survey provided complementary descriptive insights to corroborate and extend the qualitative findings. From the full cohort, four representative cases were selected to illustrate the range of reasoning approaches observed, based on variation in conceptual clarity, representational strategies, and the completeness of mathematical explanations. Thematic analysis identified four interrelated themes: mathematical reasoning and conceptual understanding; spatial visualization and representation; creative approaches to problem solving; and balancing artistic intuition with mathematical precision. The findings indicate that PMTs were able to connect geometric reasoning with visual and artistic design; however, they also encountered challenges related to maintaining representational accuracy and coordinating creative exploration with analytical rigor. This study contributes to the literature on STEAM pedagogy by elucidating how art-integrated geometry tasks can elicit multiple dimensions of numeracy, including spatial reasoning and representational flexibility. It further offers implications for teacher education, underscoring the need for targeted instructional scaffolding to support PMTs in progressing from open-ended creative engagement toward mathematically rigorous reasoning when designing interdisciplinary learning experiences.