Students’ Misconceptions on Properties of Rectangles

Abstract

This research aims to describe students’ misconception of junior high school on the concept of the properties of rectangles and the alternative to overcome them. This research was qualitative descriptive research using test with the CRI (Certainty of Response Index) method and interview method. There were three students as subjects in this study who was identified to have the most misconceptions among students in the class . Based on the data analysis, the subjects showed similar misconceptions. One of student misconception was on the properties of rectangles. Student thought that rectangles were always regularly shaped, or in other word no rectangle was irregular shaped. Students’ misconception caused by picture given to the problem. The misconceptions may due to the lack of understanding of rectangle properties. Alternatives can be done such as re-explain (remediation) or by using cognitive conflict strategies. In particular, our results indicated that 8th grade students had misconceptions in understanding the properties of rectangles. By knowing the misconceptions, students can possibly know how new knowledge is interpreted as well as having an impact on student’s ability to learn correct information in the future.