Rini Sulastri, Didi Suryadi, Sufyani Prabawanto, Endang Cahya
Barriers to learning can affect educators and students in achieving learning objectives. One of them is the epistemological obstacle caused by the limited context used when a concept is first learned. The purpose of this study was to explore the epistemological obstacles of mathematics students in the concept of limits and functions during online learning. Data were obtained from 16 first-year students who took a written test on the concept of limit function. Based on the various answers and the presence of errors, nine subjects were selected to be followed by semi-structured interviews. The qualitative research data with this phenomenology approach were analyzed descriptively. The results of the study indicate that there are several concepts of function limits that are misunderstood by subjects who come from learning experiences in high school and also online learning. Epistemological obstacles that occur include an incorrect understanding of the concepts of real and infinite numbers, the value of a function will always be the same as the limit value for the same function, and the use of the substitution method which is generalized to the limit of the function. To overcome these obstacles, the presentation of the material, especially the basic concepts, needs to be done in-depth so that is easy to understand and to minimize the occurrence of misconceptions. © 2022 City University of New York. All rights reserved.
Department of Mathematics Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Indonesia; Department of Mathematics Education, Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Indonesia
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