On creativity through mathematization in solving non-routine problems

Abstract

This study aimed to describe and compare the students' fluency, flexibility, and originality in solving non-routine problems in the Palembang context. They were depicted from the student's fluency, flexibility, and originality of solving the horizontal and vertical mathematization forms. This qualitative study employed. The subjects of this study were 30 students of grade nine of junior high schools in Palembang. The instruments used were tests and interviews. The tests were employed to investigate the written horizontal and vertical mathematizations forms. Meanwhile, the interviews were to explore the students' ideas with inadequately detailed answers. Then, the test and interview data were reduced and grouped based on the indicators of creativity. The reduced data were presented in a descriptive form for conclusions. The results of the data analysis showed that the high-ability students were the most fluent and flexible in solving the problems. Still, the provided solutions were less original and tended to use formal mathematics in the forms of formulas, symbols, and operations. Meanwhile, the moderate-ability students tended to start to solve problems by simplifying them, then presenting them in visual images. The answer sheets of the moderate-ability students revealed their fluency in understanding the problems and solutions, flexibility, and originality of thinking. This study obtained different results from the low-ability students who tended to have difficulties understanding the problems and made many errors in solving them. Such a condition showed their inability to write the known data and relate the data to other facts they had already learned. As a result, their answers did not represent fluency, flexibility, and originality.