Ethnomathematics/STEM Lessons From Hawai’i and Cuba: Supports for Developing Mathematical Understandings of Fraction Division

• In Event: Supporting Students' Math Learning

Abstract

In secondary math education, the trajectory for learning a rate of change begins with learning fraction division in the sixth grade, which historically is one of the most difficult concepts and standards for students to learn. This study explored the supports for students’ mathematical understandings of fraction division with an ethnomathematics/STEM framework. Ethnomathematics is ‘math and culture’ and consists of two components: environmental protection and social organization. The lessons in this study were from the island cultures of Hawai’i and Cuba. The findings indicate that what supported students were that ‘culture’ provided more context for them, and ethnomodeling supported their visualization of the math.

Author

• Tejvir Grewall, University of California - Los Angeles