Exploration of Cognitive Diversity in Class X PPLG 3 Student

Differentiated learning is an educational approach that recognizes and responds to the diversity of students' needs, interests, and learning styles. The concept was introduced by Carol Ann Tomlinson, who emphasized the importance of adapting instruction so that all students can learn effectively and reach their full potential. The diverse abilities of students naturally make these teachers realize that sometimes a task is not challenging enough for some students, or may be too challenging for others.(Tomlinson, 2021). Differentiated learning focuses on several key components: content, process, product, and learning environment (Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, 2021). The content differentiation that will be studied more deeply in this discussion is the student's thinking process.

Mathematics is often known as an exact science. One form of it is that a problem solving in one question can only have one result with the same value. However, of course it is not uncommon for the same value to arise from the process of finding diverse, different, short, long, or fast and slow. This diverse thinking process is one of the diversities that needs to be studied in differential learning studies. Mathematics has facilitated students to continue to develop logical, analytical, systematic, critical and creative thinking skills (Purwanto, Sukestiyarno & Junaedi, 2019). The student's thinking process is born and influenced by various factors. One of them is self-efficacy which influences self-confidence in ways of thinking and ways of understanding in the learning process until the formation of diverse knowledge and there are still obstacles for students in the problem-solving process (Morin & Herman, 2022).

If narrowed down, the student's thinking patterns that are often encountered include logical, systematic and creative thinking processes. Logical thinking ability is the ability of humans to obtain knowledge according to a certain pattern or certain logic.(Letter, 2016). This pattern of thinking often goes off the systematic track and is often unexpected and does not have a certain formula. Everyone has different logic.

One of the diversity of thinking processes found in class X PPLG 3 students of SMK N 8 Semarang in the diagnostic assessment of SPLDV material is in the form of giving one variable question. Although at the junior high school level students have discussed SPLDV material, all students still do not remember how to solve it so that the diagnostic assessment used is only one variable.

Figure 1.1 Logical Thinking Patterns

From the picture, it can be interpreted that these students prefer to think about guessing the value that meets the value of x by testing possible values in their minds. So that when they arrive at the appropriate value of x, students can only determine the value of x.

The second mindset is a systematic mindset. This mindset can be said to be the most frequently taught pattern in guided learning models. Systematic thinking patterns can be described as a sequential way of solving problems, but often this mindset limits further exploration.

A no less interesting thinking pattern is the creative thinking pattern. This thinking pattern can be said to be a combination of logical and systematic thinking patterns.

Figure 1.2 Creative Thinking Patterns

            FromIn the picture we can see that the solution to the problem is done by eliminating variables or constants that are not needed so that it is easier to find the value of x. This pattern may not occur to everyone and takes longer.