An Analysis of the Difficulty in Solving Algebra of the Students of Junior High School in Bantul Regency

Abstract

This survey research aims to determine the types of student difficulties of junior high school student in Bantul Regency in solving algebraic questions. The subjects of this research consisted of 335 grade VIII students of junior high school in Bantul Regency who came from 12 schools with high, medium and low strata categories. Data collection was carried out by means of tests and interviews to track the types of difficulties, namely difficulties in facts, concepts, principles, skills and causal factors. The results showed that the principal difficulty was 56,47%, the conceptual difficulty was 52,24%, the skill difficulty was 49,15% and the factual difficulty was 27,66%. The factors that cause difficulties, namely students are not able to (1) write symbols and write what is known from the question, (2) understand the concept of problem-solving techniques and manipulate algebraic forms and methods of elimination and substitution, (3) combine several concepts and apply the formula used, (4) solve ser problems, equation lines, relations and functions, basic mathematical operations and determine the final answer.