Students' ability to convert a situation into a mathematical model or diagram using problem solving approach

Abstract

Students' mathematical communication skill needs to be developed through appropriate instructional strategies; one of which is the problem solving approach. One of the indicators of the mathematical communication skill is the ability to state the situation into a mathematical model/ diagram. This article aims to describe the development of students' ability to convert a situation into a mathematical model/diagram using the problem solving approach. This study used mathematical communication skill tests and a semi-structured interview. The data was obtained from the implementation of the quadrilateral learning using the problem solving approach involving six Year 7 students in a junior high school in Aceh Besar, Indonesia that consist of two high, middle, and low-achieving students. The finding shows that students' ability to convert the situation into a mathematical model/diagram using problem solving approach was varied. High-achieving students can convert the situation into the model/diagram in every lesson. Middle-achieving students can convert the situation into a mathematical model/diagram in the first lesson, but the ability decreased in the second lesson and increased in the following lesson. Low-achieving students could not convert the situation into a mathematical model/diagram in the first and second lesson. However, they were able to do that in the third lesson.