Analysis of mathematics student understanding: calculus concepts

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find out: (1) how well mathematics students in semester 2 of the academic year 2018/2019 UNU Purwokerto understand the concept of calculus 2, (2) the things that cause students’ difficulties in understanding the concept of calculus. The method used in this research is qualitative with descriptive methods. Furthermore, the technique of determining the source of data is using purposive sampling. The number of students selected as research subjects consisted of 12 students in the semester 2 mathematics study program year 2018/2019; in which 3 students were in the medium category and 9 students were in a low category. Meanwhile, there are 4 subjects chosen for the interview: 2 subjects of the moderate category and 2 subjects of the low category. There are two data taken in this study, they are the results of the conceptual understanding test and the results of the interview. Later on, the results of the tests and interviews will be validated by using triangulation methods. Based on the results and discussion of this study, the following conclusions are obtained: first, mathematics students’ understanding of the concept of calculus consists of a high category of 0%, a medium category of 25%, and a low category of 75%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the understanding of the concept of mathematics calculus for semester 2 students in 2018/2019 academic year is still low. The analysis of the understanding of the calculus concept of students of mathematics study program shows a higher understanding of integral material and lower on using the integral material. The second conclusion is the things that cause students’ difficulties in understanding the concept of calculus are students still learned by memorizing and they lack the motivation to repeat the material. Moreover, they rarely practice the questions and they learned only a little of basic concepts of mathematics in high school.