PENGGUNAAN UBIN ALJABAR UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN ALJABAR SISWA KELAS VII

Siswa kelas VII mengalami kesulitan dalam mentransformasikan pengetahuan mereka dari konkret ke abstrak. Hal ini berakibat siswa tidak menyadari bagaimana penggunaan konsep aljabar dalam kehidupan. Kesulitan ini tentunya berpengaruh terhadap kemampuan aljabar siswa. Penelitian ini menelaah bagaimana penggunaan ubin aljabar sebagai alat manipulasi yang bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kemampuan aljabar. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian tindakan kelas yang bertujuan untuk mengetahui strategi pembelajaran ubin aljabar dalam meningkatkan kemampuan aljabar siswa. Data dikumpulkan menggunakan pengamatan, wawancara, dan tes terhadap 36 siswa kelas VII SMP 166 Jakarta. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan ubin aljabar meningkatkan kemampuan aljabar siswa. Kemampuan aljabar berdasarkan kriteria Kieran meningkat masing-masing pada kemampuan transformasional dari penelitian pendahuluan ke siklus kedua meningkat sebesar 42,23%, kemampuan generasional meningkat 40,27%, dan kemampuan meta-global sebesar 58,33%ABSTRACTGrade VII students are struggling in transforming their knowledge from concrete to abstract. It makes them not realize the use of algebra concepts in their life. The struggling also impacted to student’s performance in learning algebra. This study examined the use of algebra tiles to increase student’s performance in algebra as a manipulation tool in involving them in algebraic activities. The method used for this study is classroom action research who has the purpose to discover the strategies to increase algebraic performance. The data was collected by observations, interviews, and tests from 36 Grade VII Students of SMP 166 Jakarta. The result of this study shows that by using algebra tiles, student’s performance in algebra is increased. Based on Kieran’s criteria of algebraic performance, the transformational ability from preliminary into cycle 2 is increased for about 43,23%, the generational ability is increased about 40,27%, and meta-global ability is increased about 58, 33%.

Algebraic Activities Aid Discovery Lessons

Three graphing activities lead students to discover the shapes and properties of the graphs for linear, quadratic, and absolute value functions and inequalities.

An Algebraic Treatment of Magic Squares

Magic squares have always served as a good motivation device for drill in elementary and junior high mathematics. This article will consider an algebraic treatment of the 3×3 magic square to show some algebraic activities that can be carried out by the beginning or the advanced algebra student.