Logical Reasoning Profile of Student Teachers in Indonesia

Abstract

A descriptive study was carried out to get information about student teachers' logical thinking abilities. The result is then can be used to prepare learning material for them. The research was conducted on first year students who took Basic Physics courses in some Universities. Their logical thinking abilities are seen from the test scores obtained in completing the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT). The test consists of 10 questions containing five indicators, namely proportional reasoning, controlling variable, probability, correlation and combinatorial. Each indicator consists of two questions. The number of respondents in this study was 222 students spread across seven private universities. Respondents consisted of students from the Information Technology Education, Science Education and Physics Education study programs. The research results show that 62% of respondents are still at the concrete operational level, 27% are at the transitional level, and only 11% of respondents are at the formal operational level. The results of the analysis of each indicator of logical reasoning are generally still relatively low. The highest indicator that students can achieve is the proportional reasoning indicator, while the lowest is the combinatorial indicator. Reasoning level analysis was also carried out based on majors in high school. Based on the results of the analysis, it is known that whether students have a science or non-science background, the students' level of logical reasoning is dominant at the concrete operation level. Meanwhile, students' achievements in logical reasoning indicators based on majors in high school are the same as the results for all students. The achievements of good reasoning indicators from science and non-science majors, respectively from highest to lowest, are proportional reasoning, correlational reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, controlling variables, and finally combinatorial reasoning.