ABSTRACT
This
study aims to describe the attainment of mathematical problem solving ability
among elementary school students in Yogyakarta Municipality and to describe
errors that they make in answering the items in the test of mathematical
problem solving ability.
This
was a qualitative
and case study research. The research population comprised all elementary
school students in Yogyakarta Municipality. Then, 3 elementary schools in
Yogyakarta Municipality were randomly selected based on upper, middle, and lower
ranks, namely SD Negeri Ungaran Yogyakarta, SD Bina Anak Sholeh Yogyakarta, and
SD Negeri Karanganyar Yogyakarta. The study was carried out in Grade V in
November 2015. The research instruments were a test of mathematical problem
solving ability and an interview guide. Based on the data from the test of
mathematical problem solving ability, interviews were conducted by involving 5
students from each elementary school.
The
results of the study show that the mathematical problem solving ability among elementary
school students in Yogyakarta Municipality is still low, namely less than 68.
Their mathematical problem solving ability at the stage of understanding a
problem is 52.37%, at the stage of planning to solve a problem it is 29.091%,
at the stage of solving a problem it is 23.09%, and at finding out an
alternative it is 8.88%. The results indicate that many students have not
attained the stage of rechecking by finding out an alternative way (solution).
The errors that the students often make include inaccurate data, inaccurate
procedures, unavailable conclusions, skill hierarchy problems, and indirect
manipulations.
