ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS IN SOLVING FRACTION PROBLEMS BASED ON NEWMAN’S THEORY AT SMPN 21 BANDAR LAMPUNG

This study aims to describe the errors made by 7th-grade students at SMPN 21 Bandar Lampung when solving fraction problems, using Newman's error analysis as the analytical framework. A descriptive quantitative approach was employed with 132 students. Data were collected through a questionnaire on students' learning difficulties and five diagnostic problems (S1–S5) covering equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, addition and subtraction of fractions, and word problems. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, namely frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, and errors were classified according to Newman's five indicators: reading, comprehension, transformation, process skill, and encoding. The mean scores across the five problems ranged from 2.98 to 3.21, with problem S3 obtaining the highest mean (3.21) and problem S2 the lowest (2.98). Based on Newman's indicators, the transformation stage yielded the highest mean (2.04), followed by process skill (1.71), comprehension (1.49), and reading (1.01), while encoding recorded a mean of 0.00 according to the scoring criteria. These findings suggest that students' difficulties were more evident in converting problem information into mathematical models and carrying out solution procedures than in reading the problems or writing final answers. Accordingly, fraction instruction should give greater emphasis to training students to identify what is known and asked, select appropriate operations before calculating, and carry out procedures such as finding common denominators and simplifying results.