Analysis of Senior High School Student’s Difficulty in Resolving Trigonometry Conceptual Problems

Abstract

Trigonometry is one of the topics in mathematics in senior high school that must be studied and has an important effect in the development of students’ creative thinking skills, but in reality there are some difficulties experienced by students. This research focuses on analysis difficulty in resolving trigonometry conceptual problems among senior high school students in every creative thinking skills level. This research used a descriptive method aimed to identify the difficulties and cause of the difficulties experienced by five students. The difficulties are associated with concept of trigonometry and related problems. Data collection was done based on students’ work through test, interview, and observations. The results revealed that students’ difficulties in understanding the concept of trigonometry can be found at almost every level of creative thinking skills. The difficulty is identifying the application of trigonometric concepts in daily life and seeing the interrelationships between the problems given.