Students' misconceptions on the algebraic prerequisites concept: Causative factors and alternative solutions

Abstract

Mastery of the concept of number operations is the main prerequisite for understanding the algebraic concepts. The misconception of integer operations is still widely found in students. This research aimed to describe students' misconceptions on the algebraic prerequisites concept, namely the operation of integers, causative factors and alternative solutions. This research was qualitative descriptive research using diagnostic test methods and interview. Three students who did the most and varied misconceptions were chosen to be the subject of this research. The results showed the misconceptions experienced by the subject occurred in the integer addition, integer subtraction, integer division and multiplication with zero numbers. The factors that cause misconception were wrong intuition and incorrect or incomplete reasoning and alternative solutions were re-explain and cognitive conflict. For further research, other researchers can conduct research on students' misconceptions on the algebraic prerequisites concept besides number operations.