Students' Abductive Reasoning in Solving Mathematical Problems Based on Gender Differences

In general, reasoning is divided into two types; inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. (Kilpatrick et al, 2001). Inductive reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from general matters to specific matters (Barkl et al., 2012; Johnson-Laird, 1999; Wu et al., 2022). Meanwhile, deductive reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from specific matters to general matters (Bara & Bucciarelli, 2000; Gilgur & Ramirez-Marquez, 2020; Johnson-Laird, 1999). But sometimes in everyday life, we come across problems that don't look like what we thought (Juniati et al., 2020; Musaini et al, 2019; Farma et al., 2011). This makes it difficult for someone to solve problems because inductive reasoning or deductive reasoning cannot be used. In this case, the right solution can be found using abductive reasoning abilities (Garcez et al., 2002; Informatica et al., 1994; Subanji et al., 2021). According to Arrighi & Ferrario (2005) "abductive reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions from an observation that requires an explanation of the actual facts. Students will benefit from the development of their knowledge during the learning process which provides for the formation of new schemes". This is supported by research from Wackerly (2021), which suggests that abductive reasoning skills can help students solve problems more successfully and encourage them to use all the information they have. According to Walton (2014), The best problem solving method is abductive reasoning because it is based on ideas that make the most sense rather than deductive or inductive reasoning. Abductive reasoning ability has a meaning as it can be said as the process of forming an explanatory hypothesis from an observation that requires an explanation in the form of a real fact (Hidayah et al., 2020). Shodikin et al., (2021) states that abductive reasoning abilities play an important role in the process of solving mathematical problems, because they can build new schemes in students' cognitive processes. Keywords: Abductive reasoning; mathematical problems; gender