There are several factors in our environment such as cultural artefacts, murals,
our tradition, buildings and language that can be used to teach mathematics in
context or used as examples to the learners but which we are unaware of or
which we do not consider as appropriate. People interact with the world and
attempt to comprehend, interpret, and explain it using numbers, logic and spatial
configuration which are culturally shaped. These are the ways in which we
produce mathematical knowledge. This has helped to stimulate other
mathematicians on the African continent to Africanise mathematics teaching.
Mathematics is viewed as a human activity as all people of the world practice
some form of mathematics. In teaching mathematics meaningfully and relevantly,
the teacher, the learner, their experiences, and their cultural backgrounds
become extremely important factors to create conducive learning environments.
This study was set out to explore the mathematical concepts of the traditional
buildings of the Limpopo Province, South Africa and the teaching of high school
mathematics. The rationale for the study was to explore the extent to which
mathematical shapes or concepts of the traditional buildings of the Limpopo
Province could be used to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics in
context. The research questions that guided the exploration were:
1. Which ma1thematical concepts embedded in the traditional buildings of the
Limpopo Province can be used to teach high school mathematics?
2. What challenges do high school mathematics educators face in
contextualising their teaching?
3. Which suggestions can be made to assist mathema1tics educators to
contextualise their teaching?
The population for the study was made up of the builders of the circular houses
from the Vhembe (Tshivenda), Mopani (Xitsonga) and Sekhukhune (Sepedi)
people of the Limpopo Province and Grade 12 mathematics teachers of the Limpopo Province. The total population was 255, (68 circular houses builders
and 187 Gradle 12 mathematics teachers.) The three districts were chosen
because they are classified as iargely rural as compared to other districts in the
Limpopo Province. They also have many indigenous buildings which were used
to collect data for this study.
The data were gathered through observations, interviews with the builders and
questionnaire 1for the educators. For analysis, descriptive statistical analysis,
narrative, and inductive analysis were used to analyse the da1ta.
Although the builders who participated in this study could not explain using the
mathematical language how they constructed the buildings, various mathematical
concepts and symbols such as triangles, squares, parallelog1rams, kites, circles,
rhombi, rectangles, trapeziums, translations, reflections, rotations, similarities,
congruency, tessellations were discovered. These mathematical concepts can be
used by both Educators and learners to enhance the teaching and learning of
mathematics.
Further evidence emerged that teaching mathematics with meaning and relating
it to the real world makes mathematics more relevant and meaningful. It was
suggested that teacher training courses and programmes should include also
courses on culture, society, the relationship between mathematics and culture,
and the history of evolution of mathematical concepts. Contextualised learning
activities shoulcd be designed to encourage learning mathematics concepts for
understanding.
In-service courses at Colleges of Education and Universities should include the
application of ethnomathematics and indigenous knowledge systems in their
teacher training programmes. / Thesis (PhD (Mathematics) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/14418 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Seroto, S M |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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