Hamda
Problem solving is an important competency for learners. The importance of this competence contained in the curriculum of education in Indonesia. Math problems have difficulty level that are high enough. The more complex concepts involved in a problem, the higher difficult level of the problem. Thus, solving mathematical problems require the ability to associate many concepts into a united concept to bring up as a key concept. The key concept results an appropriate problem solution. This paper describes the important stages students did in applying conceptual thinking in solving mathematical problems. This study is explorative descriptive study by qualitative approach. The subject is the male students of mathematics education department in Universitas Negeri Makassar. The instruments are mathematical problem solving tasks and an interview. The result describes the importance steps in solving mathematical problems based on conceptual thinking. Those steps are (1) describing problems, (2) associating problems, (3) determining key concepts, and (4) formulating solutions. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri, Makassar, 90224, Indonesia
