The role of ethnomathematics in West Java (a preliminary analysis of case study in Cipatujah)

Abstract

Indonesia is a multicultural country of which people usually do anything influenced by their culture. The culture contain of many aspects, one of them is ethnomathematics. It is a study about the connection between culture and mathematics concepts. It also reveals mathematical practices of day life. These mathematical practices could be seen at Cipatujah, West Java, Indonesia. It has several ethnics which implemented of ethnomathematics in their life, for example they implement traditional mathematical concept in the way they determine the time to head seaward for fishing, and the way they construct their houses. The exploration will describe about how deep is the role of ethnomathematics in Cipatujah and state any problem found according to the exploration result. The objectives of this study is to show that ethnomathematics holds an important role in our day life, with the case study of primary school students and for the people of Cipatujah. The method which implemented in this study is exploratory. The result is the people of Cipatujah have been implemented ethnomathematics in their life for many years and believe that ethnomathematics is part of their life, but the teachers of primary school there have not implemented ethnomathematics approach yet in learning process of mathematics. Conclusion of this study is ethnomathematics as the root of culture life in West Java.