Student’s Mathematical Reasoning Ability in Junior High School in Indonesia

Abstract

This study was aimed at investigating students’ Mathematical Reasoning Ability (MRA) and their failure to achieve the indicators of MRA. It deployed descriptive qualitative and took place at one of the Junior High Schools in Sumedang Regency, West Java province. There were 32 students of class VIII participating in this study. The data were collected through a test, document analysis, and interview. The instrument of the test was based on five indicators adopted from the work of Bjuland (2010). The results showed that students’ MRA was still low with an average score of 42.40 compared to the minimum criteria of achievement (MCA) score of 65. This happened because some students failed to achieve the five indicators of MRA. They felt that they did not need to write down problem identification. Besides, they were unable to determine problem-solving strategies, implement, evaluate, and draw logical conclusions from the mathematical problem assigned. This study suggests that teachers should spend their efforts to innovate in teaching mathematics to improve students’ MRA.