The Development of Inquiry-Based Learning Tools to Improve the Mathematical Problem Solving Ability of Students Grade VII Junior High School (A Preliminary Research)

Abstract - Learning tools designed to solve this problem are in the form of lesson plans and student worksheets. Designing a lesson plan aims to attract students 'interest in learning so that it can improve students' mathematical problem solving ability. The problem-solving ability of SMP / MTs students is one indicator that they have reached a high-level thinking ability. This type of research was a research and development, which aims to produce learning tools that are valid, practical, effective and in accordance with the conditions in the field. The initial observation for the development of inquiry-based learning tools aims to (1) determine the initial conditions of the learning tools developed by the teacher (2) how the students' mathematical problem solving ability is taught in learning mathematics (3) whether it is necessary to develop inquiry-based learning tools to improve students’ mathematical problem solving. The results of preliminary observation indicated that: (1) the learning process in the classroom is still dominated by teacher so that students become passive in learning, (2) the learning tools used by the teacher are still incomplete, one of which is the teacher has not been able to make Student Worksheets (LKPD) itself to be used by students, (3) the learning models have not led students to be actively involved in the learning process, 4) In addition, researchers also obtained data that showed that the students’ mathematical problem solving ability in these schools is still low. Based on this, a present research on the development of inquiry-based learning tools was conducted to improve the mathematical problem solving ability of the junior high school students (SMP N 3 Lembah Gumanti). Keywords - Inquiry, Problem Solving Ability, Learning Tools