Are there Differences in Reflective Thinking Between Male and Female Prospective Mathematics Teachers?

Abstract

Reflective thinking is a thinking process involves re-investigations to overcome confusion for problem solving. This type of thinking is important for prospective mathematics teachers because the thinking can be a competence for them to teach mathematics effectively. In Indonesia, in the last three years there have been more female prospective mathematics teachers than male. Geometry is one of the difficult topics for the prospective teachers. There are four aspects of reflective thinking, namely techniques, monitoring, insight, and conceptualization. This study examines the differences in reflective thinking of male and female prospective mathematics teachers in solving analytical geometry problems in the four aspects. This research approach is qualitative. The research instrument was developed by the researchers and already valid. This research conducted at the Universitas Negeri Malang and Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta. The amount of the subjects were 83 prospective mathematics teachers who have taken analytical geometry courses in 2019/2020. Researchers collected data through test and interview techniques. The instrument validation and triangulation processes are carried out as an effort to validate the data. Data analysed through the stages of reduction, presentation, and verification. The results of this study indicate that the differences in reflective thinking of both lies in the three aspects.