Mathematical communication skills in solving block and cube problems

Mathematical communication skills are required for understanding the lessons given by teachers. Students' low mathematical communication skills are due to their lacking participation in learning or they are rarely allowed to ask or express their opinions. Learning process is still only the teachers teaching in front of the classroom and assigning tasks to students resulting in mathematical communication skills have not been able to be conveyed properly. This research aims to describe students' written mathematical communication skills in solving cuboid and cube problems and to find out factors that influence mathematical communication skills. The research was descriptive means it explained and described students' mathematical communication skills based on their indicators. The methods used were tests and non-test to see the students' ability and to observe how students expressed opinions based on the answers they have written. The results showed that the problems faced by moderate and low ability students related to aspects of writing and drawing and the difficulty of expressing mathematical ideas. Highly qualified students had fulfilled all aspects of mathematical communication skills, namely writing, drawing, and mathematical expression in presenting mathematical ideas in solving math problems.