Students' difficulties in trigonometry: A case study in Madrasah Aliyah (MA) Al Iman Bulus Purworejo

Abstract

The objective of this research is describing the students' difficuties in accomplishing trigonometri. This research used descriptive qualitative method. The population of this research was the tenth grade of MA PK 2 in Islamic Senior High School Al Iman Bulus. The data collection of the research was problem solving test and interview. The validity was obtained by triangulation method, comparing collected data from the test and interview. Data analysis was done through three steps, encompassed data reduction,data presentation, and drawed conclusion. Analitycal framework was developed based on Polya method. The results of the research were: (1). The students' faced the difficuties in understanding the sentences (pictures) or terms in the test items, so that they were confuse in which one should be known and asked. (2). The students' were able to understand the information from the test items but they could not write down the completion. (3). The students' were not able to carry out the completion planning such as the difficuties in understanding mathematics, slipshod, and do the test hurriedly. (4). The students were reluctant to review the answers. They only saw the written answered without checking whether their answers were right or wrong.