The Difficulties of Prospective Elementary School Teachers in Item Problem Solving for Mathematics: Polya’s Steps

Abstract

Problem-solving in mathematics is one of the skills that have to be mastered by elementary school teacher candidates. This study aimed to analyze the difficulties of prospective elementary school teachers at the Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) in item problem solving for mathematics. This research was a descriptive exploratory with a qualitative approach. The subjects were elementary school teacher education students at the UMM, who attended the Elementary School Mathematics Learning course II, totaling of 38 students. The instrument used was a mathematical problem based on HOTS, while the interview and observation referred to problemsolving strategies based on Polya's steps (ability to understand problems, ability to plan problems, ability to act based on a plan, and ability to re-check answers). Data analysis was performed by analyzing the written answer sheets of the subjects while coding and grouping the subject's learning styles. The data from the interview and observation were analyzed with content analysis. The results showed that students still experienced difficulties in all Polya's steps. The ability of problem-solving based on Polya's steps include understanding the problem, planning, and writing strategies, as well as carrying out activities according to plan. The results of the study stated that only 5.3% of students were in a good category. Students also have had difficulty in re-checking answers, because only 8% of students did the work correctly. It can be concluded that the ability of problem-solving in Mathematics based on Polya's steps was still relatively weak.

The Influence of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) Model Assisted by Realia Media to Improve Scientific Literacy and Critical Thinking Skill of Primary School Students

“…Primary school is assumed as the beginning of education processes (Ferraz & Neves, 2017;Jacob & Rockoff, 2011). Consequently, it is required a learning which able to prepare the students in gaining adequate understanding of science (known as scientific literacy) (Prasasti & Listiani, 2019;Rochman et al, 2019;Sujana et al, 2019;Vieira & Tenreiro-Vieira, 2016), and having skills to live in the 21 st century (Husamah et al, 2018;Yayuk & Husamah, 2020), i.e. critical thinking (Florea & Hurjui, 2015;Kettler, 2014;Vieira & Tenreiro-Vieira, 2016).…”

Newman’s Error Analysis of Common Errors in Solving Convergence of Power Series Using Ratio Test

“…According to the findings, some students still have trouble solving mathematical problems in the form of storey problems (Maulyda et al, 2020). Teachers also being evaluated for their problem-solving ability namely identifying information on the problem, carrying out the procedure according to plan, and doing calculations correctly (Maulyda et al, 2019, Yayuk & Husamah, 2020. Tambychika and Meerahb (2010) studied the difficulties of the students in solving mathematical problems.…”

Problem-solving Abilities Through Integrated Learning Nested Models in Terms of the Initial Abilities of the Pre-service Elementary School Teacher

“…The teacher is a profession that requires special knowledge and skills to meet the needs of its students [14]. One of the student's needs is to acquire instruction until the student reaches the stage of optimal personal development.…”

“…One of the indicators in professional competence that must be possessed by prospective elementary school teacher students is being able to implement conceptual, procedural knowledge, and their relationship in solving math problems and being able to apply them in everyday life (Ministry of National Education, 2007). Problem solving in mathematics is one of the abilities that must be mastered by prospective elementary school teacher students [14]. Prospective teacher students need to master the ability to solve mathematical problems, because this competence is needed in addition to equipping the students themselves as well as to equip their students later, to be ready to face the challenges of an increasingly developing world [18].…”

“…Students cannot solve non-routine problem problems according to the stages of the pattern. This is because students are less accustomed to solving non-routine problems and lack information about problem-solving strategies [14,18,19]. This condition must be immediately observed by educators and education observers, especially in the Elementary School Teacher Education Study Program.…”