Mathematical Ability of Elementary School Students Based on Cognitive Style and Gender

Abstract

The development of mathematical ability of elementary school students is very important. Education in elementary school is a foundation in mathematical ability at a higher level. In fact, many things can affect students' mathematical ability both physically and mentally of the students. The facts underlying this study were the mathematical ability of elementary school students based on cognitive style and gender. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive style and gender of the elementary school students' mathematical ability. The employed method was survey method. The subjects of this study consisted of 141 elementary school students on the fourth grade. These elementary school students were scattered in five districts in Banjarmasin. The instruments used were mathematical ability items and Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) to determine the cognitive style. Analysis of quantitative data in this study used SPSS 23.0 program. The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are the students' mathematical ability with field independent cognitive style were higher than the students with field dependent cognitive style; there was a significant relationship between mathematical ability and cognitive style in elementary school students. Boys’ mathematical abilities were not significantly higher than girls. However, the average mathematical ability of boys was higher than girls. Furthermore, there was no relationship between mathematical ability and gender in elementary school students. Judging from the number of students correct answer on the questions of stuffing in algebraic form, the average students who answered correctly on all questions was 69.9% and the classification was good enough.