REFLECTION OF ETHNOMATHEMATICS

DON’T MAKE YOUR STUDENTS AFRAID TO STUDY!

VENTI INDIANI

11313244010

INT MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Talk about education will be never end. There are so many something new that attract to be discussed. We talk some case while Mr. Marsigit’s course, and we just admire him a lot just because of his reasonableness. How he can face the problems wisely. Well, there are some topics that we learn at that time, and I will tell you one by one.  First we discuss about formal education. Does formal education affect the quality of our life? It is parable container and its contain. We are as the container, then knowledge that we get from formal education is a contain. So however we just can’t free from formal education. Then, another problem will talk about method of learning. The most important thing that we should to realize that every grade of student have their own method. As educators we should to know how to treat elementary, junior high school, or senior high school they are, because the method will determine the learning process will be success or not. After that, educators must have innovative way during learning process. Since traditional way considered can’t make the students explore them self. They just wait for teacher explanation. In innovative way, educators suggested to give freedom for students to develop their skill. Educators facilitate what students need, then control what have the students done in order to make students not misconception. In other problem, there is a question, it’s ok if teacher determine the student’s style when they get study? As a wise educators, we don’t need to determine that. Why? Each student have their style, they have their own comfortable zone during they study, so actually educator don’t have any authority to determine how the students study. It is horrible enough when students are forced to study with certain style, because students will not be comfortable, then they tend to be afraid during the study. When students are not comfortable, or even they feel afraid during they study, it will make the student’s intuition lost. And when students don’t have any intuition, they will difficult to learn something. So, what we have to do as the next educators is how to create interesting and meaningful learning process so that can explore the student’s skill well.

REFLECTION ETHNOMATHEMATICS Part 1

Ethnomathematics Reflection Part 1

By VENTI INDIANI

11313244010

We still talk about what is ethnomathematics and several problem in learning process of mathematics. As we know in previous lesson, what we called ethnomathematics is something innovative. It means that ethnomathematics teach us how to learn mathematics in innovative way, where mathematics linked to ethnic or culture around. But, in Indonesia, innovative method still become curriculum oriented. Whatever  educators do have to appropriate with the curriculum, so educators seem like they are bounded by curriculum. Do you know? There is something interesting when Mr.Marsigit said that innovative is yourself, innovative stay on student’s self. What is mean? It means that innovative is about how you create something new originally. Innovative is about how we as the learner face the condition in learning process, so we don’t need to sue the educators to be innovative one, because as Mr.Marsigit said that innovative is our self. Educators just facilitate the students in order to do an activity in mathematics or ethnomathematics.

Innovative learning also discovered by Theresianun that she called Street Mathematics. Street Mathematics tell us about non formal mathematics that created by pupils in the street. A certain street pupils have unique and different mathematical thinking, but what they think can be proved right.

Except innovative problem, There are some problems in education, especially in mathematics that linked to ethnomathematics. For the first case is what should government use for evaluating the result of learning process if final examination make a lot of student cant pass it. Before that, we should to know how is the result evaluation in learning process. That show us a bad result. Why? Well, there are some reasons, first because of pupils compilation, anomaly, and the human error. Human error occur because the leader have no long term vision. For example we can listen Obama’s speech when he was inaugurated as a President of America. He said to the pupils that in the sky, there are still a lot of unnamed stars exist that wait to be named. What a speech. Have you ever hear some speech like that in Indonesia? it must be rare. Long terms vision is very important thing if we want to be a prosperous nation. It believe, without long term vision, a nation will collapse. In essential, we must create a long term vision clearly, so we can determine how is the mission to reach that vision. While about the final examination, it will so hard to make all students in Indonesia pass the final examination. Why? Because every region have different culture. For example in mathematics, when a question tell about condition in Merapi, students in Papua don’t know, what is the question means because they don know about culture in Merapi, so they will be confuse. That’s why it is better for us as the next educators to learn ethnomathematics, to know how we link mathematics with the culture around.  

The next problem is how can teachers apply innovative learning without bounded by final examination oriented? Well, that problem still become a dilemma. Sometimes, several educators want to be an innovative educator, but unfortunately they fail just because they bounded by final examination oriented. So, one of ways is change the mind set. People have to realize that today, something innovative is very necessary.

REFLECTION OF HERMENEUTICS OF LIFE

HERMENEUTICS OF LIFE

VENTI INDIANI

11313244010

INT MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Ethnic of Yunani, Herme introduced Hermeneutics Theory.  In Hermeneutics Theory believe that he can translate what God think. In Indonesia, what we called Hermeneutics Theory can be represented by “sillaturahim”.   Hermeneutics Theory  represented by two main concept. They are straight line and circle. Straight line and circle are great abstraction to image our life. Straight line means that we cannot replay our past, because life always goes on. We just cannot stop the rotation of earth. Then the abstraction of circle are like spiral or like  sign the earth when rotate and revolute the sun. Hermeneutics Theory is caused-effect relationship theory. For example Hermeneutics in mathematics learning, relation of caused effect, theories and practical or implementations. Life is how we translate and can be translated activity and communication, because problems appear when people cannot translate around them. It is same when we learn mathematics. We can success learn mathematics when we can translate problems in mathematics.

Mathematics consists of many type, start from valley to the top. And every type of mathematics have certain characteristics. Students in elementary school should not get mathematics in formal way, the just should to enjoy when they learn mathematics. So better for educator in elementary school introduce mathematics by simple way and interesting way. That is different with students in university. They learn mathematics in formal way, and that’s should be. What have to know by educators is wrong way when teach mathematics can cause tsunami. Hmm, what a horrible. But that’s true. So when we want to teach something to others, make sure that you really understand.

There are many problems of Mathematics education in Indonesia. One of them is about the way of teaching. There are two types of teaching. Traditional teaching and innovative teaching. In traditional teaching, teacher just give all he have to students, then students just accept what teacher give. Teacher don’t give any chance to students to state their mind and creativity. What teacher give are right, so students don’t need doubt about that. While in innovative teaching, teachers give trust to students to explore their ability, students have chance to state their mind, and develop their potency. Teachers just facilitate what students need to increase their ability. That is what we called constructivism.

According to Ebbut and Straker, mathematics is a search for pattern and relationship, Mathematics is problem solving activity, Mathematics is mean of investigation, and mathematics is a mean of communication. The school mathematics can be applied to the students through follow some activity, identifying or describing the specific mathematics, schematizing, formulating, and visualizing a problem in different ways, discovering relations among mathematical concept, discovering regularity arousing from the concept of “routine activities”, recognizing isomorphic aspect in different problems, transferring a real world problem to a mathematical formula, strived to prove regularities of consisting concept, refined adjusting mathematical models, and performing vertical mathematical by employing different models. Through that activity above the students can build attitude mathematics by themselves.

From above we can conclude that Hermeneutics make us realize that life is dynamic. So, to reach the goal in our life we have to work hard, and of course in learning mathematics.

Source:

http://powermathematics.blogspot.com/

http://staff.uny.ac.id/dosen/marsigit-dr-ma