<![CDATA[This study aimed to determine the level and characteristics of difficulties experienced by fifth-grade students of SD Negeri 091367 in solving mathematics problems on the area and perimeter of plane figures. The study used a quantitative descriptive method involving 22 students. Data were collected through a five-item essay test, observation, and questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, percentage calculations, and Newman’s procedure to identify difficulties in problem-solving stages. The results showed that the overall difficulty level based on the test was 54.32%, categorized as moderate. Difficulties in understanding concepts and problem information reached 59.09%, difficulties in using appropriate formulas were 50.00%, and difficulties in performing calculations were 54.55%. The questionnaire indicated a moderate difficulty tendency of 50.91%, while observation showed that 12 students (54.55%) were in the poor category in aspects related to material understanding, learning difficulties, and task completion. Newman analysis indicated that difficulties were particularly evident in comprehension, transformation, process skills, and encoding. The highest difficulty occurred on item 4 (84.09%), which required students to understand a contextual problem, select a strategy, perform calculations, and state the final answer. These findings indicate that students’ difficulties are not limited to calculation but also occur when interpreting information and selecting appropriate solution procedures.]]>
