The Relational Thinking Process of Secondary School Student with High Mathematical Ability in Solving Mathematics Problem

摘要

This research is aimed to describe the process of relational thinking of junior high school student with high level a ability in solving mathematical problems. In this qualitative research, data collection techniques are performed by using tests and interview. The subject of this research is only one female student of the eighth grade. The main instruments used are the mathematical ability test, problem-solving test (PST), and interview guidelines as a supporting instrument. The data analysis is worked out with data reduction, data presentation and conclusion. The result of the research shows that the way of student's relational thinking can help to solve the problems correctly. The subject of this research relates the information she knew with the knowledge she has about Pythagorean Theorem and velocity formula. She builds a relation between the problem of understanding (relation between the element and information in the problem) and the knowledge she has (the usages of the Pythagorean Theorem and velocity formula). Then, she used the same way as planned to complete the problem-solving task. For the last activity, she reads and makes a correction on the steps she has done to ensure that her answer is correct.