KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENT IN LEARNING ON THE TOPIC OF TRIGONOMETRY IN

HIGH SCHOOL
Awaluddin Makaraka1, Ma'rufi2, Muhammad Ilyas3
Students of Graduate Program of Mathematics Education1
Lecturers of Graduate Program of Mathematics Education 2,3
Universitas Cokroaminoto Palopo

(amakkaraka@gmail.com1),(marufi.ilyas@gmail.com2), (muhammadilyas949@yahoo.com3)

Abstract
This study aims to describe knowledge of students that the pre-service mathematics teachers had regarding
students' difficulties, concept error that frequently happened, and forms of representation employed in learning
on the topic of trigonometry in high school. The research is a descriptive study that adopted a qualitative approach.
The subject of the study was a female undergraduate student in mathematics education that was currently in
internship III while the location was in SMA Negeri 1 Palopo. Data collection technique carried out by the
researcher was by observing the learning process in the classroom. The data was then analyzed by several steps
that comprised: data reduction, data categorization, interpretation, and conclusion. The findings of the research
revealed that the subject skills in tackling students’ misconception were: (1) using questions as a learning strategy
to build students’ knowing, (2) explaining the relationship between concepts to systematically organize the
fundamental of ideas enhancement planned by the students.

Keywords: Knowledge of Student, pre-service teachers, mathematics learning, misconception.

1. Background
A teacher is an essential element in education and is very decisive in educational success.
Teachers are required to be able to fulfil their roles optimally to carry out their duty. According to the
Law of The Republic of Indonesia Number 14 of 2015 on Teachers and Lecturers, the teachers’ duties
as professional educators are educating, teaching, guiding, leading, training, assessing, and evaluating
students. Due to the importance of teachers in learning success, professional pre-service teachers
preparation is necessary for successful education in the future.
Prospective professional teachers have to possess various competencies needed to become an
educator as well as a good teacher. They consist of professional competence, pedagogical competence,
social competence, and personal competence (Government Regulation of The Republic of Indonesia
Number 74 of 2008 Article 3).
Pedagogical competence and professional competence are must-have competencies for teachers’
and prospective teachers. The former is their skill in teaching while the latter is their understanding of
teaching materials. Loughran et al. (2001) said that the combination of professional competences
(content knowledge) and pedagogical competence (pedagogical knowledge) is called Pedagogical
Content Knowledge (PCK).
Ma’rufi dan Ilyas (2018) said that PCK in mathematics learning is integration between content
knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and knowledge of the student in understanding mathematical
material that is then implemented in mathematics learning as well as knowledge regarding ways to
represent and describe a mathematics concept to facilitate students’ understanding.
Mathematics is one of the materials that its teaching need sufficient content and pedagogical
knowledge. Ma’rufi, Budayasa,& Juniati, (2018) said that a teacher has to master mathematical content
taught to students and know ways t transfer lesson so that students could easily understand it.
According to Hawkins (Ma’rufi & Ilyas, 2017), there are three main components of knowledge
that are essential for teachers in mathematics learning. They are Knowledge of Mathematics,
Knowledge of Teaching, and Knowledge of Students. Besides content knowledge and pedagogical
knowledge, knowledge about students is very important in mathematics learning due to mathematics as
a hierarchical science. It means that students’ error or a misconception that is unknown and could not
be resolved by the teachers, endanger the construction of students’ mathematical understanding in
overall (Napitupulu, 2016). According to Resbiantoro (2016), knowledge about students understanding
of material encompasses students’ need toward particular concepts and the potential learning error that
may be experienced by students as well as the misconception that might happen during the learning
process.
Based on the explanation, this research objective was to study knowledge of student that the pre-
service teachers have in trigonometry learning in high school.
2. Method
This study was descriptive qualitative research which aimed to describe pre-service teachers’
knowledge of students in trigonometry learning. This study was conducted in SMA Negeri 1 Palopo.
The subject of the research was a female student of mathematics education in the Faculty of Teacher
Training and Education of Universitas Cokroaminoto Palopo in the class of 2016 that was currently in
internship III. She carried out learning for two lessons. The data collection tool consisted of the main
instrument and the supporting one. The former was the researchers while the latter was observational
sheets. The technique to collect data in the study was an observation of the learning process conducted
by the subject in the classroom. The stages of data analysis encompass data reduction, data classification
or categorization, data interpretation, and concluding. Time triangulation was then carried out to check
the data validity.
3. Results and Discussion
a. Results
The subjects’ knowledge of her student was evident in activities conducted to tackle students’
difficulties to solve problems regarding the cosine rules.
Observation result in the learning process during the first lesson showed that the subject tackled
the students’ difficulties by explaining the concept that formed the law of cosine through Pythagorean
Theorem. With substitution methods, the subject guided the students to change the form 𝑥 2 into the
form of 𝐶 2 − 𝐴𝐷 2. She also asked several questions and gave some clues to students to prove the cosine
rule. The subject always asked the students to explain the reason behind their answer.
The result of observation during the learning process in the second lesson revealed that the subject
overcame students’ difficulties by explaining again the material that she previously taught about the
1
formula to determine the area of a triangle which is 2 × 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 × ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. Therefore, students that forgot
the materials could recall the concept. Asking strategy was also used as a technique to describe how to
determine the area of the triangle through the trigonometric ratios.
Data from the two observation result were then validated to obtain credible data. Validation was
carried out by comparing the result of the first and the second lesson. The complete validation process
was shown by the following Table 1.
Table 1. Validation Process of Data of the Subject in the First and Second Lesson in tackling
misconceptions
SPTPM1 SPTPM2
2 The subject overcame students’ difficulties
Subject guided the students to change the form 𝑥
to 𝐶 2 − 𝐴𝐷 2 (STP1-055). She gave some by repeating the material that was taught in
questions and clues to students to prove the cosine the previous lesson (STP2-009). She
rule (STP1-058). guided students by probing questions
(STP2-010, STP2-011,STP2-012,STP2-
013,STP2-014)
Sources: Primary data after data processing, 2019

Data validation regarding the subject that tackled students’ misconception in Table 1 revealed
that there was consistency. Students’ lack of understanding about the concept of the triangle and how
to determine its area contributed to students’ difficulties. This weakness happened due to the students
not being able to link the concept of the right triangle into the form of cosine rule. The subject resolved
the problem by repeating the material taught in the previous session. Besides repeating, the subject also
employed the technique of asking when exploring Pythagorean theorem and modified it into the form
of the law of cosine. It was also utilized to guide students to solve the problem given to minimize
students' misconception.
b. Discussion
Knowledge about students involved teachers’ knowledge regarding mathematical concepts that
were difficult to understand by the students, in which students experienced misconception, the possible
source of students’ error, and the solution of such difficulties and misconception. Killic (2011) said that
teaching based on knowledge about students not only delivers procedural information but also help the
students to enhance their conceptual understanding.
During the process of learning conducted by the subject, students’ lack of understanding
regarding the area of a triangle contributed to their difficulties or misconception. They could not connect
a concept to another concept to determine the area of a triangle by utilizing the law of cosine. According
to Suparno (Fitria, 2014), their misconception includes the initial concept, an error of relationship
among concepts, and intuitive ideas or wrong views.
In solving the problems, the subject explained again the material taught in the previous lesson.
She also facilitated the students to understand her teaching by opening their insight through the asking
technique. Ma’rufi & Ilyas (2018) explained the importance of asking skill to understand students’
thinking process and to anticipated the knowledge needed by the students so that the teachers could
analyze and predict students’ thinking. By questions, students’ were taught to make rational decision to
decide whether to believe or do something. Students were asked to always think in full consideration
before believing and carrying out something. Rational consideration is an integral part of the role of
logic and reasoning that become the essential elements of the mathematics learning process. Therefore,
critical thinking should be habituated by the students through studying mathematics. By this habituation
in thinking critically in studying mathematics, students were expected to become a critical individual.

4. Conclusion
Based on the result and discussion, the subject skill in overcoming misconception is evident when
(1) the subject employs questions as a learning strategy to build students’ knowledge, and when (2) the
subject describe the relationship between concepts to arrange the basic of ideas development planned
by students systematically.
5. Citation and References
Fitria, A. (2014). Miskonsepsi mahasiswa dalam menentukan grup pada struktur aljabar menggunakan
certainty of response index (CRI) di Jurusan Pendidikan Matematika IAIN Antasari. Jurnal
Pendidikan Matematika UIN Antasari, 1(2), 45-60.
Government Regulation of The Republic of Indonesia Number 74 of 2008 Article 3.
Kilic, H. (2011). Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge of Students. Turkish Online
Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, April 2011, 2(2), 6.
Loughran, J., Milroy, P., Berry, A., Gunstone, R., & Mulhall, P. 2001. Documenting Science Teachers’
Pedagogical Content Knowledge Through Pap-Ers. Research In Science Education, 31, 289-
307.
Ma’rufi, Budayasa, I. K., & Juniati, D. (2018, January). Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Teacher’s
Knowledge of Students in Learning Mathematics on Limit of Function Subject. In Journal of
Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 954, No. 1, p. 012002). IOP Publishing.
Ma’rufi & Ilyas, M. (2017). Tinjauan Teoritis Tentang Pengembangan Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Guru Melalui Lesson Study. Pedagogy: Jurnal Pendidikan Matematika, 2(1).
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Napitupulu, B. (2016). Karakteristik Pengetahuan Konten Pedagogis (Pedagogical Content
Knowledge) Guru Matematika SMP pada Segiempat Ditinjau dari Gender. In disertasi.
Surabaya: Universitas Negeri Surabaya.
Resbiantoro, G. (2016). Analisis Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Terhadap Buku Guru SD
Kurikulum 2013. Scholaria: Jurnal Pendidikan Dan Kebudayaan, 6(3), 153-162.
The Law of The Republic of Indonesia Number 14 of 2005.