STUDENTS' MATHEMATICAL CREATIVE THINKING PROFILE IN ALGEBRA OLYMPIAD PROBLEMS THROUGH PROJECT-BASED ASSESSMENT: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY

Mathematical creative thinking is a higher-order thinking competency that is essential in developing mathematicsolympiads because it requires the ability to produce non-routine solutions flexibly, originally, and elaborately. Thisstudy aims to describe in depth the mathematical creative thinking profile of students on the mathematics olympiadteam at the junior high school level through the application of project-based assessment on the subject of algebraolympiads. The study used a qualitative descriptive approach with a case study design. The research subjectsconsisted of three students on the mathematics olympiad team who were selected purposively. Data collection wascarried out through open-ended algebra tests, project assignments, observations, and semi-structured interviews.Data analysis focused on four indicators of mathematical creative thinking: fluency, flexibility, originality, and detail,with data validity maintained through triangulation of techniques and assessors. The results showed that each subjecthad a different mathematical creative thinking profile. Project-based assessment was able to facilitate the emergenceof a variety of solution strategies, original solutions, and reflection on the mathematical thinking process, especiallyin students who were actively involved in the project implementation. These findings provide an empiricalcontribution to the development of authentic assessment in the context of developing mathematics olympiads andenrich the study of mathematical creative thinking in algebraic material.