The use of mind mapping to improve connection ability of mathematics
Students still experience difficulties in finding the connection between a math topic, both with other math topics and with other disciplines and with everyday life in the process of learning mathematics in the classroom. This is because the element of connection in learning rarely appears. Accordance with this, it is necessary to use the right strategy to improve students' connection skills, one of which is the use of mind mapping. This type of research is a quantitative descriptive with a pretest-posttest design. The research population was one of the public high schools in the city of Padang with a sample of one class in class XI IPA. The data in this study were collected through pre-tests (limit function), question sheets containing mind maps, and final tests (derivatives). The collected data were analyzed descriptively and using inferential statistics in the form of a t-test. The results showed that the students' mathematical connection skills in class XI IPA were better than before. In addition, students' ability to make connections between math topics (K1), with other disciplines (K2) and with the real world/daily life of students (K3) has increased compared to before. Based on these results it was concluded that students' mathematical connection abilities increased after learning using mind mapping.