Analysis of Mathematical Problem Solving Abilities in Middle School Students

Abstract

This research aims to analyze students' mathematical solving abilities. A teacher in the learning planning process needs to understand the characteristics and initial abilities of students. Analysis of students' abilities at the beginning can identify students in terms of needs and characteristics to determine specifications and qualifications for changes in behavior or goals and materials. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000:29), revealed that there are five standard abilities that students must master, namely representation, problem solving, understanding and proof, connection, and communication. According to Polya (Nuralam 2009; Ristiana et al., 2015), problem solving is an attempt to find a way out of a difficulty to achieve a goal that is not so easy to achieve. In solving story problems, there are several steps required in the process. Following are several steps for solving mathematical problems according to Polya, there are four steps for solving mathematical problems that must be carried out, namely: a) understanding the problem; b) plan problem solving; c) solve problems; and d) rechecking the results obtained by students. Because of this, many students still make mistakes in understanding the problem, planning a solution, implementing the solution, and checking the answer again. This is because students are still not used to working on problem solving questions so that students have difficulty understanding each question, many students make mistakes in calculating problem solving, besides that, on average, students do not recheck the answers they have made.