Identification of Misconceptions in Middle School Mathematics Utilizing Certainty of Response Index

Abstract

Student’s understanding of a material concept differs one to the others. This comprehension will be used to learn the next material. Thus, it is important to know whether or not the student understands a mathematical concept. The aim of the research is to identify students’ misconceptions in mathematics and the possible causes of misconceptions. This qualitative case study approach used a multiple choices test given to 53 middle school mathematics students in grade 9 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The identification of students’ misconceptions was based on the Certainty of Response Index (CRI) technique. The result showed that 20.9% of students had misconceptions in working mathematical problems. Meanwhile, the percentage of lucky guess, knowledge of correct concepts and lack of knowledge respectively is 18.8%, 32.7%, and 27.6%. The data indicated that students had misconception in classifying objects based on fulfilling requirements that form concepts, determining the right concepts to solve problems, distinguishing the necessary conditions and/or sufficient conditions for the concept of a circle. The result suggests that in the learning process students should be trained to understand the concept well, not only memorize the material. Furthermore, teachers and students should be given adequate interaction during the learning process.