Why is Mathematical Representation Difficult for Students?

Abstract

Mathematical representation is one of the mathematical skills that can help students present mathematical problems in various forms. However, students often face difficulties in doing so. This study aims to investigate the causes of difficulties faced by students in solving mathematical representation questions on trigonometry of the 10th grade. This is a qualitative case study. Data were collected both by documentation of research results in the form of 6 essay questions on mathematical representation and by interviews. The research participants were 10 high school students in the 10th grade of science program in Cirebon Regency, West Java, Indonesia. Through this case study, found the causes of difficulties experienced by students in solving mathematical representationquestions. Most difficulties (10 students) occurbecause students cannot represent mathematical expressions/symbol to solve questions in the form of images. On the other hand, the least difficulties (6 students) occurbecausestudents cannot using image representation to solve written text questions.