Students’ understanding in learning trigonometry using mnemonic method

Abstract

Mathematics is one of the disciplines that trains people to form the ability to think logically, critically, creatively and dynamically. Especially in high school, mathematics contains a lot of terms, formulas, and rules. Therefore, there should be efforts to increase specific cognitive abilities which in this case referred to the ability of mathematical understanding. One of the methods that can facilitates students to remember the formulas and terms in math easily is mnemonic method. This method can be used to support the utilization of memory concepts and mathematical formulas in specific ways. This study aims to test the learning material of sine and cosine addition by implementing the mnemonic method in one high school in Aceh Besar. The data collected are in the form of mathematical comprehension tests, worksheets, and questionnaires. Based on the test results, it can be concluded that the students’ mathematical understandingof sines and cosines addition are in a very good category. However, the students still have difficulties in writing a conclusion on how to remember the formula of sine and cosine addition, it is easier for them to communicate it verbally. Meanwhile, based on the questionnaire result, it shows that the students’ responses to learn sine and cosine addition by using the mnemonic method are absolutely positive.