Analysis of students’ mistakes in solving algebra word problems using the Newman Procedure

Abstract

The process of learning mathematics in school does not always run smoothly because the ability of each student is different. One of the problems in learning mathematics is that students have difficulty understanding the material, which causes them to make mistakes. Analyzing students’ mistake may reveal a faulty problem-solving process and provide information on the understanding of, and their attitudes toward, mathematical problems. One of the analytical procedures that has been developed for this is the Newman Procedure. Newman maintained that when a person attempted to answer a standard written mathematics word problem they had to be able to pass over a number of successive hurdles: (1) reading (or decoding), (2) comprehension, (3) transformation, (4) process skills, and (5) encoding. Based on the research results of 12 students from Class VII at a junior high school in Bandung, the percentage of mistakes students make in solving algebra word problems are as follows: reading (or decoding) 18.30%; 15.49%, transformation 18.30%; process skills 22.53%; and encoding 25.35%.