The Competency of Elementary School Teachers in Solving TIMSS Mathematics Problems

Abstract

This study aims to obtain information about elementary teacher competencies in solving math problems. This research uses quantitative and descriptive methods. Quantitative methods are used to determine elementary school teacher competency, proportion correct, and item difficulty, while descriptive methods are used to inform test scores, proportion correct, and item difficulty in tabular and graphic form so that they are easy to read and understand. The population of this study is all the reference elementary schools in Indonesia, while the sample is determined by simple random sampling. The number of sample schools was 101 schools, while the objects of this study were 101 elementary school teachers. Analyzes were performed using Excel to determine test scores, item difficulty, and proportion correct. From the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that as many as 44% of teachers scored above 80, but as many as 11% of teachers scored less than 50. The proportion is correct of probability above 80% higher than the proportion correct of geometry and measurements and numbers. The highest proportion correct of cognitive domain knowing is 83.89% and the lowest proportion correct of cognitive domain reasoning is 41.73%. The proportion correct of the material tested for fractions and decimals, geometric shapes, and organization and presentation of data is above 80%, while the proportion correct of other materials is below 80%. The proportion correct of elementary school mathematics material is quite good in the category of 75.88%, but the number or measure of diversity is quite high with a standard deviation of 167%. This is also seen from the lowest proportion correct of 23.22% and the highest 96.83%. That is, there is a fairly high variation or gap between teachers with the lowest and highest mastery of the material, even though the tendency for achieving teacher scores is quite good. The level of mastery of teachers answered correctly the multiple-choice items 76.77% and the essay items 75.27%. Keywords—teacher elementary school, mathematic, assessment, TIMSS