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1. AIP Conference Proceedings 2524, 020006 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0112351 2524, 020006
© 2022 Author(s).
Analysis of factors affecting difficulties in
learning mathematics during online learning
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2524, 020006 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0112351
Published Online: 03 October 2022
Kurnia Rahmi Yuberta, Yuliza Mahdi, Nola Nari, et al.
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AIP Conference Proceedings 2524, 010003 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/12.0014812

2. Analysis of Factors Affecting Difficulties in Learning
Mathematics during Online Learning
Kurnia Rahmi Yuberta1,a)
, Yuliza Mahdi1,b)
, Nola Nari1,c)
, and Mona Yulivia1,d)
1)
Department of Mathematics Education, IAIN Batusangkar, Indonesia
Jalan Sudirman No. 137 Kubu Rajo Lima Kaum Batusangkar West Sumatra, Indonesia 27213
a)
Corresponding author: kurniarahmi.y@iainbatusangkar.ac.id
b)
yulizamahdi9@gmail.com
c)
nolanari@iainbatusangkar.ac.id
d)
monayulivia@gmail.com
Abstract. During the pandemic, students are required to study online which is unfamiliar to them. It makes students face
difficulties in learning mathematics during the online class. The main purpose of this study is to find out the cause of
learning difficulties in mathematics during online learning. The type of this research is qualitative descriptive. Data were
collected through interview and questionnaire involving eighth grade students. The analysis results found that there are
many difficulties faced by student which are caused by internal and external factors. For internal factor, interest in learning
is the most dominant factor that causes students' learning difficulties in the heavy category. Meanwhile, students’ habit in
learning mathematics and motivation of student are in moderate category. For external factors, social environment is the
the most dominant factor that causes students' learning difficulties in the heavy category. Meanwhile, family environment
is in moderate category in average which parental support is in light category and economic life of the family is in the
moderate category.
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world at the end of 2019 had an impact on almost all countries in the world,
including Indonesia, especially in the field of education. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended
several steps that can be taken to reduce the spread of this virus, one of them is social distancing [1]. In response to
this, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Indonesia issued a policy through the Circular Letter of Number 4
of 2020 concerning the Implementation of Education in the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) Emergency, namely by
changing the process of Teaching and Learning Activities by implementing online learning [2].
Online learning can be interpreted as Internet-based courses where teachers and students are in separate locations
either direct interaction or indirect interaction [3]. Online learning is a new thing for students, because it is done not
in the classroom but using online forms such as conferences and online chat. Online learning has its own advantages
and disadvantages. The advantage of online learning is that the learning process can be done anywhere, not focused
only in the classroom, because the actual class is transferred to an online class through an application and can be
accessed on their respective cellphones or laptops. But, teachers or students may occasionally have network problems,
and there is no monitoring from the teacher what students do during online learning [4]. This makes online learning a
new problem for students and teachers. The implementation that is much different from the usual situation requires
students to be able to learn independently. It also requires qualified facilities and infrastructure to comply with
government policies. So, there are various difficulties for students in adapting to this new way of learning.
Based on the results of interviews conducted with several students, it is known that students have some difficulties
in learning mathematics. These difficulties include students' difficulties in understanding the lessons given by the
teacher because students are accustomed to learning that is directly explained by the teacher and then discusses
International Conference on Education Science and Engineering (ICoESE) 2021
AIP Conf. Proc. 2524, 020006-1–020006-5; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0112351
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-4215-3/$30.00
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3. questions related to the material that has been explained by the teacher. Other obstacles experienced by teachers during
online learning are learning applications, internet networks and devices, learning management, assessment,
supervision [5]. Furthermore, previous study mentioned that students’ difficulties during covid-19 pandemic caused
the lack of learning resources such as limited facilities and internet access and parents ability to support their children
learning [6,7]. Students admitted that the most difficult part of doing the questions at home was the unfavorable
atmosphere and the students were self-taught without the assistance of the teacher. Students have difficulty accessing
information in obtaining materials and assignments due to the limited capacity of mobile phones and internet networks
that are often problematic.
Reinforced by interviews with teachers, learning difficulties were also found. Not all of the information sent by
the teacher can be received by students because they are constrained by not having a cellphone. Furthermore, the
teacher cannot monitor whether students really read and understand the subject matter sent, whether students are
serious about doing the assignments given. The teacher assesses that online learning in mathematics has not been
effective because mathematics requires more understanding. Students are used to being explained face to face before
being given questions. Students cannot interact directly with the teacher if students have problems.
Student learning difficulties here are caused by several factors. The factors that cause learning difficulties in
schools are many and varied. It can be classified into two groups, namely internal factors (factors from within humans
themselves) and external factor (factors from outside humans). Internal factors include 1) Physiological factors, factors
related to the physical condition of an individual. For examples, physiological functions in the human body especially
the five senses. 2) Psychological factors, Psychology is the study of human behavior, mental function, and mental
processes through scientific procedures. It includes cognitive such as low intellectual / intellectual capacity of students,
and affective such as emotional, learning interest, motivation and student attitudes. Whereas, external factors include
1) non-social factors, that exist in the family or school environment, for example, disharmony in the relationship
between father and mother, the low economic life of the family and also learning tools, school Facilities. 2) Social
factors, Social factors are factors that are influenced by the people around students. Example: The community is like
a naughty playmate [8,9]. Previous studies state that these factors affect difficulties of students in learning mathematics
not in online learning. However, we suspect that these also influence students learning mathematics during online
learning.
Based on the difficulties encountered during the interview, we suspect that there will be other difficulties felt by
students in online learning because there are still many types of difficulties encountered by previous researchers and
these difficulties are also likely to be felt by students. However, what dominant factor caused difficulties in learning
mathematics during online learning have not been fully explored. From the explanation above, the purpose of this
study is to find out what are the dominant factors that cause difficulties in learning mathematics that students encounter
during online learning both internally and externally.
METHOD
This research uses qualitative research method [10]. The form of research used is descriptive research. This study aims
to describe the factor causing the difficulty of learning mathematics during online learning. 27 students in class VIII.1
in SMP N 3 Batusangkar were involved in this research. The data in this study were obtained from questionnaire and
interviews. Students are given a questionnaire regarding the factors of learning difficulties. After the questionnaire
was processed based on the total score obtained, then the questionnaire was categorized which consisted of categories
of very heavy, heavy, moderate, light and very light difficulties. Two students in each factor of difficulties were
interviewed. The data analysis technique used in this study is qualitative data analysis including: data reduction, data
presentation (data display) and conclusions (drawing/verification). In this study, the validity was carried out by
triangulation of techniques and sources. Technical triangulation was done by comparing the data obtained from the
questionnaire instrument and interviews.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Based on the questionnaire data obtained from the study, it can be presented and interpreted about students’ difficulties
and several factors caused the difficulties of learning mathematics during online learning in grade VIII.1 SMPN 3
Batusangkar. The difficulties are classified into internal and external factor [8] [9]. Each of them is spelled out into
sub indicator. The results of each indicator can be seen in the following Table I.
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4. TABLE 1. The Percentages of each sub-indicator of internal and external factor
Variable Indicator Sub-indikator Percentages Category
Internal Motivation Enthusiasm for learning 64,35 Moderate
Perseverance for online
learning
59,26 Moderate
Interest Interest for
online learning
64,51 Moderate
Unhappy feeling in
following
online learning
75,62 Heavy
Habits of
learning
Behavior of students
learning mathematics
66,80 Moderate
External Family
environment
Parental support 50,93 Light
Economic life of the
family
63,89 Moderate
Social
environment
Playmate 63,89 Moderate
Learning atmosphere 73.46 Heavy
Furthermore, the data is analyzed and interpreted per sub-variable to see which the dominant factor causing
students' learning difficulty in online learning. The subjects selected for the interview were 2 students from each
variable with the highest difficulty category. The highest difficulty category of each indicator is seen from the results
of the questionnaire with the highest score which indicates that students are very problematic in learning. Therefore,
researchers are looking deeper into how the factors that cause difficulties in learning mathematics online are felt by
students.
Internal Factors
One of the successes of learning is influenced by students' learning motivation. However, the learning motivation
of students who take part in online learning in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic situation has decreased [11]. In
this study the learning motivation factor was spelled out into enthusiasm and perseverance in participating in online
learning. Based on the questionnaires and interviews conducted, it was found that students' learning motivation is in
the moderate category. This was due to the lack of motivation from students to do the assignments sent by the teacher
through the whatsapp group. Because students' learning motivation was problematic, students rarely do the
assignments sent by the teacher. Students also did not ask the teacher if they had problems in doing assignments.
Limited communication between students and teachers makes it difficult for them to understand the material [12].
Students only rely on the cheats of friends in doing the assignments sent by the teacher. In line with that, the learning
motivation of problematic students was also seen by the absence of students' desire to study mathematics at home.
Students feel that with this online learning there will be no supervision from the teacher so that students rely more on
help from friends to do the works.
Beside motivation, the learning interest also became our focus for factor causing students' learning difficulty in
online learning. The interest refers to interest for online learning and feeling in following online learning. It was found
that interest is in heavy category in average. Online learning during the covid-19 pandemic greatly affects student
interest in learning, students feel bored because they did not meet their friends and teachers directly [13]. Based on
the questionnaires and interviews conducted, students' feeling in following online learning is in the heavy category
which means students feel unhappy to study online. Students feel burdened to send their assignments through the
whatsapp group. In addition, the problem with online learning was also seen when students did assignments given,
students quickly feel confuse. Students also did not try to do the assignments sent by the teacher. They just wait for
friends to do the assignments then copy it. Interest in learning is a feeling for likes or is also interested in something
and learning activities without anyone asking to study. It becomes important to foster student learning interest in
learning mathematics because it relates to student performance in study mathematics [14]. Students will try to really
want to learn it and will be enthusiastic about working on it.
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5. The habit of learning factor refers to behavior of students learning mathematics in online learning. Previous
research found that students' performance in learning mathematics is influenced by students' habits in learning [15]
[16]. Based on the questionnaires and interviews conducted, study behavior of students was one of factor causing
students' learning difficulty in online learning in the moderate category. Students have never studied the subject matter
before the assignment was sent by the teacher through the whatsapp group. Students also never made a summary of
related learning materials. This is because they are used to being given material before the teacher gives assignments.
Moreover, online learning makes students even lazier to study independently at home. The dependence of students on
the teacher coupled with the behavior of students who do not want to try to understand the lesson makes it difficult
for students to follow mathematics lessons.
External Factors
The family environment spelled into parental support and economic life of the family. It was found that family
environment is in the moderate category. Students come from various backgrounds. Some students were not monitored
how their learning at home. Parents’ support plays a vital role at all stages of education [17]. With the busyness of
parents working outside, they cannot accompany their children studying at home. It caused lack of parental attention
to study online and completing school assignments given by the teacher [5]. But the other students stated that their
parents always remind them to study. Their parent also helped them to do assignments. It makes sense that parental
support during online learning in this study is in the light category on causing students' learning difficulty. In addition,
student learning difficulties also depend on the economic situation of the family. Economic life of the family in this
study is in moderate category. Some students come from lower economic class. This has an impact on students, namely
regarding the facilities that are not maximally fulfilled. This makes it difficult for students to do assignments [6].
Online learning requires an android phone equipped with a quota the internet, the fact that there were students who
had the capacity of their cellphones which makes it difficult for students to download materials and assignments. This
situation could be a cause most student’s learning difficulty during online learning.
In this study, social environment refers to students’ playmate and students’ learning atmosphere. It is important to
create a fun situation in learning mathematics since the learning environment plays a significant role in the enjoyment
of mathematics [18]. It was found that students’ playmate factor is in moderate category. Very little student wants to
learn and have initiative to do the assignments sent by the teacher. Students prefer to play with friends rather than
study. Students are influence to play online games with their friends because it is more interesting than studying. In
addition, some students have difficulty learning online because unsupportive learning atmosphere. Learning
atmosphere factor in this study is in heavy category. It means how the students learn during online learning with their
environment give big impact on their performance in learning mathematics. Students feel difficult to focus in learning
because of television shows and temptation to play with friends while at the same time they have to study. Furthermore,
the availability of the internet is also included in the students' learning atmosphere because this is the most important
thing during online learning. The difficulty of the internet access in the student's area also gives big impact on causing
students' learning difficulty. The scarcity of internet access is major challenge among student and teacher since the
corona virus outbreak in 2019 [6]. Students stated that if the weather is bad, they could not access the internet. The
area of students living also influenced the speed of internet access. Limited internet access makes students late in
submitting assignments. Consequently, students might not study mathematics very well. The factors that cause
students’ difficulties imply that the use of e-learning is currently facing big challenges. It may result in student failure
to learn in this difficult time. The findings of this study can be a concern to teachers, schools, and policymakers
about students' difficulties during online learning.
CONCLUSION
Changes in learning systems since the corona virus outbreak forced schools to implement distance education or online
learning. This condition raises new problem for students which cause learning difficulties for students. The analysis
results found that there are many difficulties faced by student which are caused by internal and external factors. For
internal factor, interest in learning is the the most dominant factor that causes students' learning difficulties in the
heavy category. Interest in learning affects the achievement of learning mathematics so it becomes important to foster
students’ learning interest in learning mathematics. Meanwhile, students’ habit in learning mathematics and
motivation of student are in moderate category. However, these two things cannot be ruled out because these also
affect students' performance in learning mathematics. For external factors, social environment is the most dominant
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6. factor that causes students' learning difficulties in the heavy category. It is necessary to strive for learning situations
that support students’ achievement in learning mathematics. Meanwhile, family environment is in moderate category
in average which parental support is in light category and economic life of the family is in the moderate category. It
should be considered the cause of difficulties of students learn mathematics during online learning both internally and
externally.
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