Symbol Sense of Mathematics Students in Solving Algebra Problems

Abstract

Symbol sense is a sensibility or mastery of someone against the use of symbols and an understanding of the situation when symbols can be used. This study attempts to describe the extent to which the use of symbol sense students STKIP Muhammadiyah Sampit to solve the algebra problem based on the steps of Polya’s problem-solving. The results showed that understanding the problem step of students in the first semester was still less able to relate the symbol to the problem that given, and the students still used words instead of symbols in understanding the problem. Then the third-semester students have fulfilled all the indicators of symbol sense. Furthermore, fifth-semester students are less precise in writing symbols according to their meaning in the problem. Steps of planning the problem solving all students can use the symbol sense properly. Then in the step of implementing the problem-solving plan, students in the third and fifth semesters can fulfill all the indicators symbol sense to the maximum. However, first semester students bring up or make some new symbols to solve problems. Steps of looking back at the problem solving has been obtained, all students meet all the symbol indicators well. So, the first semester students are still lacking in using their symbol sense in solving algebra problems.