The development of an instrument to explore non-routine problem solving strategies among mathematics education students

Abstract

This research aimed at describing the validation results of instrument development to explore the non-routine problem solving strategies, especially the non-routine strategy assignment and interview guidelines. The validity of the assignment instrument is viewed from the aspect of accuracy, strategic direction, cognitive level, scope of the knowledge, and legibility of the problems. The interview guidelines instrument is evaluated by the ability to disclose the strategy, the nature of the question by being exploring and not guiding, and the clarity of the students’ response. This study is part of the broader development research. The subjects were Mathematics Education students of Syiah Kuala University. The research instrument was a validation sheet about non-routine problem solving strategy and interview guidelines. Data were collected by obtaining expert’s opinion on the content and construct validity of the non-routine problem solving strategies assignment instrument, while the data collection for the trial was conducted through the task-based, semi-structured interview. Expert validation data then was analyzed by reviewing thoroughly the experts’ suggestion and opinion on the instrument validation, while the result of the trial is analyzed by describing the emerging strategies from student’s response to the given problems. The validation result of instrument development indicates that the instrument and interview guidelines are applicable in order to explore strategies used by students in non-routine problem solving.