PROFILE OF STUDENT’S REFLECTIVE THINKING IN SOLVING PISA MATHEMATICS PROBLEMS BASED ON GENDER DIFFERENCES

Abstract

Reflective thinking ability is important in solving problems so students can easily determine the right strategyto solve problems using the knowledge and experience they have. Reflective thinking is an activity or mentalprocess using knowledge or experience with an awareness of what is known and needed that is donerepeatedly and with full consideration of beliefs supported by clear reasons to find a decision or solve aproblem. This study uses four stages of reflective thinking which include (1) describing experiences basedon problems, (2) elaborating experiences to form a solution strategy, (3) analyzing experiences based onsolutions, and (4) evaluating experiences based on the solutions. The purpose of this study is to describe thereflective thinking profile of male and female middle school students in solving PISA mathematics problems.The participant of this research are male and female students of grade VIII in Surabaya. The method used inthis study is a qualitative explorative descriptive study. The results showed that at the stage of describingexperiences based on problems, male and female students use their experiences in solving problems. In thestage of elaborating experience to form a strategy for solving, male students specifically identifymathematical concepts contained in the problem, male and female students choose the right formula andstrategy to solve the problem. At the stage of analyzing experiences based on resolution, male and femalestudents explain the answers given, male students mention strengths and weaknesses related to problemsolving. In the stage of evaluating experience based on the solutions, male and female students state thereasons why the answers given have answered the problem, female students test whether the solution donehas answered the problem.