The cognitive process of students in understanding the parallels axiom through ethnomathematics learning

Abstract

The thinking process of students in understanding the parallels axiom through ethnomathematics learning was abstract activities of remembering, analyzing, understanding, judging, reasoning, imagining and speaking that was needed in learning geometry. This was the cognitive process of students based on culture. Lobachevsky’s axiom of parallelism was difficult to understand through low thinking. Ethnomathematics was one solution. The purpose of this study was to describe the cognitive process of students in understanding parallels through ethnomathematics learning. This research was the initial stage of development research. We conducted in-depth interviews with 8 high school students in Bengkulu, Indonesia. The research instrument was the researcher himself who was guided by an interview guide on understanding the Lobachevsky Axiom of Parallel Lines. Interviews were conducted during geometry through the ethnomathematics learning approach. Data were analyzed qualitatively through fixed comparison techniques. The results of this study were that students can encapsulate two or more traits in the Lobachevsky Parallel Lines axiom through ethnomathematics in the form of bubu. (Bubu was a traditional fishing gear in the village community in Bengkulu). The next cognitive process was that students can build an object about infinite lines that were parallel to certain line. The encapsulation activity produces a correct understanding based on the properties of woven mats. The conclusion of this study was that through the ethnomathematics approach students can achieve trans level cognitive processes.