Journal on Mathematics Education (JME)
Vol 12, No 1 (2021)

AN INVESTIGATION OF STUDENTS’ ALGEBRAIC PROFICIENCY FROM A STRUCTURE SENSE PERSPECTIVE

Al Jupri (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung)
Ririn Sispiyati (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung)
Kin Eng Chin (Edith Cowan University, Joondalup)



Article Info

Publish Date
20 Jan 2021

Abstract

Structure sense can be interpreted as an intuitive ability towards symbolic expressions, including skills to perceive, to interpret, and to manipulate symbols in different roles. This ability shows student algebraic proficiency in dealing with various symbolic expressions and is considered important to be mastered by secondary school students for advanced study or professional work. This study, therefore, aims to investigate students’ algebraic proficiency in terms of structure sense. To reach this aim, we set up a qualitative case study with the following three steps. First, after conducting a literature study, we designed structure sense tasks according to structure sense characteristics for the topic of equations. Second, we administered an individual written test involving 28 grade XI students (16-17 year-old). Third, we analyzed students’ written work using a structure sense perspective. The results showed that about two-thirds of the participated students lack of structure sense in which they tend to use more procedural strategies than structure sense strategies in solving equations. We conclude that the perspective of structure sense provides a fruitful lens for assessing students’ algebraic proficiency.

Copyrights © 2021






Journal Info

Abbrev

jme

Publisher

Subject

Education Mathematics

Description

Journal on Mathematics Education (IndoMS-JME) is peer-refereed open-access international journal which has been established for the dissemination of state-of-the-art knowledge in the field of mathematics education. This journal is founded under collaboration between Indonesian Mathematical Society ...