Students’ metacognitive abilities in solving derivative problems

Abstract

Students need skills and solving strategies to solve mathematical problems. One of the strategies that students should have is metacognition. Metacognitive ability plays an important role in avoiding errors and allows students to use their prior knowledge and certain strategies in solving mathematical problems. This research is a preliminary study that aims to describe students’ metacognitive abilities in mathematical problem solving. The participants in this study were 28 students of an Islamic senior high school in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Data collection conducted in this study was tests and interviews analysed descriptively. This study found that most students satisfied the planning indicator of metacognitive abilities in mathematical problem solving. Furthermore, some students met the monitoring indicator, even though their answers were not perfect, and some reached the evaluation indicator. Students’ metacognitive abilities in solving mathematical problems can be improved; one of the ways is applying problem-based learning model.