Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi oleh adanya kesulitan siswa dalam memahami materi operasi hitung bilangan bulat negatif. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan kesulitan siswa kelas VI-A SDN 043 Tarakan dalam memahami materi operasi hitung bilangan bulat negatif. Penelitian ini melibatkan peserta didik kelas VI-A SDN 043 Tarakan yang berada di Kelurahan Karang Harapan. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara dengan 4 peserta didik mewakili subjek penelitian. Data dianalisis secara kualitatif untuk mendeskripsikan jenis kesulitan yang dialami peserta didik dalam memahami materi operasi hitung bilangan bulat negatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa kesulitan memahami simbol bilangan negatif dialami oleh subjek S1 karena memahami terkait konsep bilangan negatif. Subjek S2 mengalami kesulitan dalam memahami simbol bilangan negatif karena subjek S2 tidak mengetahui bagaimana bentuk dari tanda negatif, serta subjek S2 tidak mengetahui bahwa dalam bilangan bulat terdapat bilangan negatif dan positif. Sedangkan subjek S3 dan subjek S4 tidak mengalami kesulitan dalam memahami simbol bilangan negatif. Kesulitan dalam memahami konsep yang dialami oleh subjek S1, S2, S3 dan S4 karena subjek belum mampu menentukan rumus yang harus digunakan pada operasi hitung bilangan negatif. Selain itu pada materi operasi hitung bilangan negatif yang melibatkan soal cerita, keempat subjek mengalami kesulitan memahami konsep karena subjek tidak mampu memahami maksud soal sehingga kesulitan dalam mengubah soal menjadi kalimat matematika. Akibatnya, keempat subjek tersebut mengalami kesulitan saat melakukan langkah-langkah dalam menyelesaikan soal. Kesulitan dalam memahami prosedur yang dialami oleh subjek S1, S2, S3, dan S4 terjadi karena keempat subjek belum memahami konsep operasi hitung bilangan bulat negatif. Selain itu, keterampilan berhitung subjek yang masih kurang menyebabkan terjadinya kesulitan dalam memahami langkah-langkah yang digunakan dalam menyelesaikan operasi hitung bilangan negatif.

Kata Kunci: Kesulitan Belajar, Operasi Hitung, Siswa SD

The background of this research was based on the students' difficulties in understanding the material for counting operations with negative integers. The purpose of this study was to describe the difficulties of class VI-A students at SDN 043 Tarakan in understanding the operation of counting negative integers. This study involved students of class VI-A SDN 043 Tarakan in Karang Harapan Village. The data was collected through interviews with 4 students as representative of the research subjects. The data were analyzed qualitatively to describe the types of difficulties experienced by students in understanding the operation of counting negative integers. The results of the research showed that the S1 subjects had difficulty understanding negative symbols because they did not understand the material related to the concept of negative integers. Subject S2 had difficulty understanding negative symbols because subject S2 did not know how to form the negative sign, and subject S2 did not know that in integers there were negative and positive numbers. Meanwhile, S3 and S4 subjects had no difficulty in understanding negative symbols. Difficulties in understanding the concepts experienced by subjects S1, S2, S3, and S4 because the subjects had not been able to determine the formula that must be used in the operation of counting negative numbers. In addition to the material for counting operations on negative numbers involving story questions, the four subjects had difficulty understanding the concept because the subjects were unable to understand the meaning of the question so the subjects had difficulty converting the questions into mathematical sentences. Difficulties in understanding the procedures experienced by subjects S1, S2, S3, and S4 occurred because the four subjects did not understand the concept of counting operations with negative integers. In addition, the subject's lack of numeracy skills causes difficulties in understanding the steps used in completing the operation of counting negative integers. Keywords: Learning Difficulties, Counting Operation, Elementary Student