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When viewed from mathematics learning
activities at school, the reality is that the teachers are
more active than the students. Mathematics learning
tends to be teacher-centered thatbring about the
students becoming lazy and lack of enthusiasm in
mathematics. Learning is no more than delivering
information. Consequently,the students easily forget
and cannot use math in their lives. Students are
being treated as learning objects and the teacher
presents more mathematics material with concepts
or standard procedures. Accordingly,
communication is only one direction in learning
mathematics. This condition according to Rusman
(2012) reflects the lack of professionalism of
teachers and results in students' reluctance to learn.
Looking at this condition, in terms of learning
technology, the teacher is not able to design
mathematics learning well.
A good mathematics learning plan must pay
attention to the conditions and choose a suitable
strategy in order to improve the quality of learning
and certainly will improve students' mathematics
learning outcomes. Mathematics learning that is
designed must include and analyze all variables that
affect learning both theoretically and empirically.
According to Reigeluth (1996) there are three
components that influence the occurrence of
learning behavior, namely learning conditions,
learning methods and learning outcomes.
Components of learning methods play an important
role in determining the quality of learning. For
example, the quality of mathematics learning is
determined by certain variables and is used as the
basis for the teacher's work.
The acquisition of mathematics learning
outcomes is influenced by the ability of teachers in
recognizing and understanding the characteristics of
their students. A teacher who can recognize the
characteristics of students will help to learn
mathematics that is effective and efficient. Features
of students include parts of learning conditions and
influence the occurrence of student learning
behavior.
Observing the variables of learning behavior
above, namely the condition of learning in the form
of characteristics of students as the subject of
learning, each student has specific features. One
characteristic of students who can determine the
quality of mathematics learning outcomes and still
need research is cognitive style. Cognitive style is
related to the way a person receives and processes
information. Cognitive style specifically is the
characteristic of an individual in receiving and
organizing information (Sternberg, 2009).
Based on the description that has been stated, the
acquisition of optimal mathematics learning
outcomes by paying attention to students' cognitive
style. Therefore, it is necessary to study in the form
of a study of cognitive style on the learning capacity
of mathematics. The formulation of the problem in
this study are: (1) Does the cognitive style of
students influence student mathematics learning
outcomes? and (2) Are there differences in
mathematics learning outcomes of students who
have independent field cognitive styles and students
who have a field dependent cognitive style? The
results of this study are theoretically expected to
contribute to the learning of school mathematics,
especially in the approach to learning mathematics
and its relationship to students' cognitive style.
Practically the results of this study can be useful for
mathematics teachers, students, and researchers in
the field of mathematics education.
Cognitive style refers to the way a person
processes, stores and uses the information to respond
to a task or respond to various types of
environmental situations. Referred to as style and
not ability because it refers to how someone
processes information and solves problems and not
refers to how the process of resolution is best.
Cognitive style is related to the way a person
receives and processes information.
Cognitive style of students plays an important
role in the meaningfulness of learning. Hansen
(1995) states that cognitive style is described as the
way a person obtains information but does not show
the content of information but only how the brain
perceives and processes information. The same thing
is in the opinion of Riding & Rayner (1998) that
cognitive style describes the habit of behaving
relatively in a person in accepting, thinking about
problem-solving, and in storing information.
Everyone has a certain way that is relatively
consistent in processing information, how to
remember, think and solve problems. One type of
cognitive style that receives information is field
dependent (FD) and field independent (FI). To
determine the type of cognitive style of students,
whether including the dependent field cognitive
style (FD) or the field independent cognitive style
(FI), Witkin et al. (1977) have developed an
instrument in the form of simple images in a
complex pattern called the Embedded Group Test
(GEFT).
One cognitive style that influences individual
characteristics is the independent field cognitive
style. Yousefi (2011) states several characteristics of
individuals who have independent field cognitive
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