The preliminary study of students’ creative problem-solving ability

Abstract

Mathematics helps students to practice their thinking skills. One of the thinking skills expected to face the times is the ability to think creatively. Therefor we need a qualitative research with descriptive methods. The research that was conducted at SMP Santo Yoseph Medan in the academic year 2020/2021 involved 16 students representing class VII-B and 14 students representing VII-C junior high schools as research subjects and the results showed that students’ creative problem-solving abilities did not show good results. The instrument used was a test of creative problem-solving abilities which consisted of 3 questions. This is analyzed based on the indicators of fluency, flexibility, and originality for solving questions number 1, 2, and 3. Based on the fluency indicator in solving problem number 1, data is obtained that 14 people are not fluent and 16 people are fluent. In solving problem number 2, data is obtained that 15 people are not fluent and 15 people are fluent. In solving problem number 3, it is obtained data that 18 people are not fluent and 12 people are fluent. Based on the indicator of flexibility in solving problem number 1, it is obtained data that 29 people are not flexible and 1 person is less flexible. In solving problem number 2, it is obtained data that 30 people are not flexible and none are flexible. In solving problem number 3, it is obtained data that 30 people are not flexible and none are flexible. Based on the originality indicator in solving problem number 1, it is obtained data that 29 are not new and 1 person is not new. In solving problem number 2, data shows that 27 are not new and 3 are not new. In solving problem number 3, it is obtained data that 27 people are not new and 3 people are not new.