ANALYSES OF MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITY OF PUBLIC JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

This article is written based on data from the prior researchthat support main research about The Effect of Problem-based Learning towards mathematical understanding ability (MUA) and mathematical problem solving ability (MPSA) of Public Junior High School (PJHS) students in Bandung. The prior research is intended to analyze the achievement of the students in solving mathematical problems and to collect information about the cause of various mistakes made by them in solving such problems. Mathematical problems is designed in MUA and MPSA tests.
The kind of the test is essay test. The research results showed that some mistakes students made in solving mathematical problems are due to: (1)students’ influency in algebraic operation, (2) lack of mathematical prior knowledge, and (3)limited mathematical understanding and
representation. Related to the students’ achievement: the students’ average score for MUA test is 39,95% and 32,46% for MPS test. So, it is suggested that the teachers give more attention to improve students’ capability in solving algebraic problems, remind and reinforce students’ mathematical prior knowledge periodically, and develop students’ mathematical understanding & representation ability. In this article, students’ performance in solving the tests described descriptively.