Folding back and pseudo-folding back of the student when solving the limit problem

Abstract

Definition of limits is one of the complex definitions in mathematics. Difficulties occur when students link the solution of limit problem to the definition of the limit. When the students face the difficulties, they need to folding back to recall the previous knowledge to overcome those difficulties. The keyword of folding back is the occurrence of thickness on previous knowledge. The fact often happens that students are no thickening of knowledge so that the students are not able to solve the problem. This fact is called as pseudo-folding back. This study aims to reveal the folding back and the pseudo-folding back of the students when students link the solution of limit problem to the definition of the limit. The approach of this study is case study and one student became the participant of this study. The results of this study showed that the folding back and the pseudo-folding back occurred when the student do the cancellation and link the statement is approaching two but not equal with two with the definition of limit.