ANALISIS KESALAHAN SISWA SMP DALAM MENYELESAIKAN SOAL OPERASI BILANGAN BULAT DITINJAU DARI PEMAHAMAN KONSEP

Abstract

This study aims to explain the various types of errors made by seventh-grade junior high school students when solving problems involving integer operations, based on their understanding of these concepts. A descriptive qualitative approach was used, with a sample of 21 seventh-grade students from SMP Negeri 7 Talang Muandau. The research instrument consisted of a written test comprising three graded open-ended questions—easy, moderate, and difficult. The assessed aspects consisted of three parts: understanding of the problem (P), problem-solving procedure (Pr), and final answer (H). This study showed that on easy problems involving negative integer operations, all students (100%) made errors in both the procedure and the result. Additionally, 71.4% of the students also misunderstood the required concepts. A surprising phenomenon emerged: students were actually better able to solve problems at the moderate or difficult levels, provided that the problems involved only positive numbers or had a clear and explicit situational context. An in-depth analysis of the students’ three answers revealed three patterns of misunderstanding: first, ignoring the negative sign and treating negative numbers as positive numbers; second, adding all the numbers without considering the type of operation used; third, using the negative sign randomly without a proper conceptual foundation. These findings indicate that a better understanding of negative integers is needed, achieved through a more meaningful and context-appropriate approach.