Innovative smart box learning media for enhancing elementary students’ conceptual understanding of arithmetic operations

Concept understanding is important to build in students, one of which is through learning media that can accommodate student needs. This research aims to develop the Smart Box as a learning medium for the mathematical operations of multiplication and division that is feasible and practical. This research is a research and development (R&D) study using the 4-D model, which consists of the stages of define, design, develop, and disseminate. The sample for this research consists of 25 fourth-grade students from SD Negeri Jurugentong, selected using random sampling from the population of fourth-grade elementary school students. Data collection instruments included interview guidelines and questionnaires. Interview data were analyzed descriptively, while questionnaire data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The feasibility of the Smart Box media received an average score of 4.4 or 87%, categorised as "Very Feasible" by content experts, and an average score of 4.4 or 87%, categorised as "Very Feasible" by media experts. The practicality test obtained an average score of 4.6 or 91% including “Very Practical” by students. In conclusion, this research produces Smart Box Media that can contribute to supporting the learning of the concept of multiplication and division operations for grade IV elementary school students. This research contributes to mathematics education by providing a theoretically grounded, practically validated, and developmentally appropriate learning medium that enhances students' conceptual understanding of multiplication and division through real and interactive experiences.