Analysis of elementary school students' ability on mathematical communication and mathematical representation

Abstract

This research is motivated by the importance of communication ability and mathematical representations of elementary school students as part of the standard process that students must have towards mathematical learning. The purpose of this study was to determine how far the communication and mathematical representations of students have. The research design used was descriptive qualitative. This research was conducted on 24 students of the fifth-grade elementary school in Bandung by providing communication skills and mathematical representation tests and interviews. The results of the study showed the low communication skills and mathematical representations of students in terms of the test instruments given to students. Most students find it difficult to conclude because of errors in understanding the meaning of mathematical questions in real-life contexts. Based on these findings learning activities must be developed to achieve the expected indicators so that communication ability and mathematical representations of students can be improved.