The Ethnomathematics in Farming Activities on Halmahera Island, Waidamo Village, East Sahu District

Hery Suharna¹, Hasriani Ishak², Ida Kunia Waliyanti³, Ardiana⁴, Rustam Hasyim⁵

^1,2,3,4Department of Mathematics Education. Universitas Khairun of Indonesia

⁵Department of Pancasila and Citizenship Education. Universitas Khairun of Indonesia

ABSTRACT: Ethnomathematics is an exploration of mathematics in the activities of people’s lives, especially culture. Mathematics is part of culture and is universal, as well as concrete ethnomathematics objects that can support and help students understand mathematics that is abstract in nature. Therefore, learning mathematics based on culture will be more interesting so that it can make students more active and think creatively in exploring their findings. Method This type of research is qualitative research with an ethnographic approach. The methods used to obtain data are field study methods, exploration, observation, interviews and documentation. In this study, it focused on the crafts of farming activities on farmers in Waidamo Village and involved two lecturers, 3 lecturers with various expertise and 2 students to assist researchers in exploring the geometric elements found in the crafts of farming activities. The purpose of this study is to explore ethnomathematics in farming activities. The data analysis technique used is triangulation, namely data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. Data reduction is used to sharpen, classify, and discard data that is not needed in the study. The data obtained from the results of interviews, observations, and documentation are reduced by selecting the information needed to obtain valid data. Based on the results of the study, the ethnomathematics found were counting activities, rituals and comparing.

KEYWORDS: Ethnomathematics, counting, ritual and comparing

A. INTRODUCTION

One of the hot topics being discussed in mathematics learning is combining mathematics learning with the culture of life that exists around us. Ethnomathematics is an exploration of mathematics in the activities of people’s lives, especially culture. Mathematics is part of culture and is universal, as well as concrete ethnomathematics objects that can support and help students understand mathematics that is abstract in nature. Therefore, mathematics learning based on culture will be more interesting so that it can make students more active and think creatively in exploring their findings. (Surat 2018). Mathematical ideas are abstract forms of everyday human life activities that should be easy to learn and understand. However, there are many students who still havedifficulty learning mathematics. This is because the mathematics taught in schools is sometimes found to be different from the mathematical problems found in everyday life. (Fauzi and Setiawan 2020). The difference between academically and informally acquired mathematical knowledge (Andriyani and Kuntarto 2017). The inconsistency of mathematical problems found in schools with the mathematics found in everyday life makes it difficult for students to connect formal mathematical concepts with real-world problems (Sarwoedi et al. 2018).

Ethnomathematics can be defined as mathematics applied by certain cultural groups, professional classes and so on. (Wahyuni et al. 2013). In addition, ethnomathematics can also be interpreted as the study of the relationship between mathematics and the related socio-cultural background which shows how mathematics is produced, transferred, distributed and specialized in diverse cultural systems (Sopamena, Patma, Kaliky, Syafrudin & Assagaf 2018). The term

Ethnomathematics was coined by D’Ambrosio (1989) dalam (Sarwoedi et al. 2018) to describe the mathematical practices of identifiable cultural groups and is considered the study of mathematical ideas found in each culture.

“The prefix ethno is today accepted as a very broad term that refers to the social cultural context and therefore includes language, jargon, and codes of behavior, myths, and symbols. The

derivation of matematis difficult, but tends to mean to explain, to know, to understand, and to do activities such as ciphering, measuring, classifying, inferring, and modeling. The suffix tics is derived from techno, and has the same root as technique “.

Therefore, the relationship between mathematics and its related socio-cultural background shows how mathematics is produced, transferred, distributed and specialized in diverse cultural systems.

According to Kusumah in his article on ethnomathematics, he explains that teachers will be more innovative in the process of designing mathematics learning. Teachers capture mathematical ideas based on existing local culture. (Zaenuri, Dwidayati, and Suyitno 2018). With ethnomathematics-based learning, students are trained to sharpen their sensitivity, are able to explore mathematical concepts that exist in their cultural environment, and make students appreciate and value their culture more. The process of learning mathematics based on ethnomathematics is divided into three parts. (Andriyani and Kuntarto 2017), yaitu:

1. Learning about culture, placing culture as a science. The process of learning about culture has been studied directly by students through the subjects of arts and crafts, arts and literature, painting and drawing. Cultural products that apply in society can be used as methods for solving mathematical problems,
2. Learning with culture. Learning by culture for students includes the benefits of various forms of cultural manifestations that become learning media or contexts in the learning process in the classroom,
3. Learning through culture. Learning through culture for students is given the opportunity to demonstrate the achievement of understanding or meaning created in a subject through various cultural manifestations.

B. UNDERSTANDING MATHEMATICAL COMPREHENSION SKILLS IN ETHNOMATHEMATICS

Mathematical understanding is translated from the term mathematical understanding as a very important ability that must be possessed by students in learning mathematics. The rationale for the importance of mathematical understanding ability is that this ability is stated in the objectives of learning mathematics NCTM (1989) The goal of teaching mathematics is so that the knowledge delivered can be understood by students. Good education is an effort that successfully brings students to the desired goal, namely so that the material delivered is fully understood by students. (Suharna and Alhaddad 2018). Santrock (2008) that conceptual understanding is a key aspect in learning. Likewise, mathematical understanding is an important foundation for thinking in solving mathematical problems and real-life problems. In addition, mathematical understanding skills greatly support the development of other mathematical skills, namely communication, problem solving, reasoning, connections, representations, critical thinking and mathematical creative thinking and other mathematical skills (Hery Suharna 2015).

Ethnomathematics is defined as the special ways used by a particular cultural group or society in mathematical activities. Where mathematical activities are activities in which there is a process of abstraction from real experiences in everyday life into mathematics or vice versa, including activities of grouping, counting, measuring, designing buildings or tools, making patterns, counting, determining locations, playing, explaining, and so on (Suharna and Abdullah 2020). From these opinions, it can be defined that ethnomathematics is a method used to study mathematics by involving activities or local culture, making it easier for someone to understand.

C.    RESEARCH METHODS

This type of research is qualitative research with an ethnographic approach. The methods used to obtain data are field study methods, exploration, observation, interviews and documentation. (Suharna, Hairun, and … 2020). In this study, it focuses on the crafts of farming activities of farmers in Waidamo Village, Halmahera Island, West Halmahera Regency, and involves two lecturers, 3 lecturers with various expertise and 2 students to assist researchers in exploring the geometric elements found in the crafts of farming activities of farmers in Waidamo Village. The instruments in this study consist of the main instrument and the supporting instrument. The main instrument in this study is the researcher himself (human instrument) where the researcher is directly connected to the research and acts as a data collector from the results of exploration, interviews, observations, and documentation. After the data is obtained, it is analyzed based on each pattern of mathematical elements found and grouped according to groups in farming activities. The data analysis technique used is triangulation, namely data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. Data reduction is used to sharpen, classify, and discard data that is not needed in the study. Data obtained from interviews, observations, and documentation are reduced by selecting the information needed to obtain valid data. (Suharna, Nusantara, and Budayasa 2016). Based on the results of data reduction, several mathematical concepts were obtained in the form of mathematical elements found in farming activities among farmers in Waidamo Village.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

First: Calculation activity was found;

Next, S1 identifies the graph of function C, according to S1, this graph of C is easy. This is in accordance with the following statement from S1.

P: Can you tell us about the process from planting to harvest?

S1: Yes, thank you, it starts with preparing the land for planting, starting from cutting, cleaning from grass to preparing the seeds of the plants to be planted. Next, prepare a bed with a size of approximately 60 to 70 cm, with a ditch or trench height of approximately 20 to 30 cm with an adjusted land area. After the bed is made, wrap the bed with plastic, as a whole. Then we make a hole for the plant and make it for approximately 2 to 3 days. The goal is to eliminate soil acidity.  

This indicates that S1 made calculations for the preparation of planting monthly crops. S1 also explained in detail about the preparation of the beds, how high, how wide and so on. S1 even connected the height of the beds with the weather forecast, it turned out that there was a difference between the rainy season and the dry season, as a step to anticipate the excess and lack of water needs for plants. Therefore, S1 carried out calculation activities in preparing the planting process.

P: What plants do you prepare,,,

S1: It depends on the environmental situation, weather, etc. Usually the plants that are planted are monthly plants such as: chilies, tomatoes, vegetables, etc. in the dry season, a 20 cm bed is enough, but in the rainy season, about 30 to 35 cm is enough so that the plants are not submerged in water. P: In your opinion, is there an almighty power over your plants to succeed or not? S1: Ohh,,, yes there must be, sir, after planting we usually pray, in Java we usually give thanks by parading the harvest around the village. In the past, it was often done here, but now it is rarely done.

Based on the results of the interview, S1 performed a ritual in order to give thanks to God Almighty for the abundant harvest. This is based on S1’s story, namely “after planting we usually pray, in Java we usually give thanks by parading the harvest around the village” this shows that S1 performed a ritual at least praying when carrying out worship to God Almighty. This is important to do psychologically to get high spirits in living a life of farming.

P: Usually, tell us about the maintenance and harvest results, do you get any profit or loss?

S1: If the maintenance is normal, such as urea fertilizer and spraying with pesticides once a month. For vegetable plants, I usually use manure, if I have used regular manure, I don’t need to use pesticides. Monthly plants usually have one harvest and some have multiple harvests. Like peanuts, they only have one harvest, but tomatoes, chilies and others usually have multiple harvests. If we talk about profit, it depends on the market.

P: How does it depend on the market?

S1: It depends on market demand, meaning that the needs of the community are high, supplies are low, such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Christmas and New Year, we usually get bigger profits compared to normal days. So we have estimated that day if it is possible to harvest, if that is the case, the profit is usually bigger compared to normal days.

This indicates that S1’s harvest results depend on the situation and conditions of the community. This shows that S1 makes a comparison between the capital spent during the planting process and the harvest results obtained. Based on the description above, S1 in the farming process makes calculations, rituals and comparisons between the process and results. The ethnomathematics activity of farming is shown in Figure 1 as follows:

(SEE IN PDF FILE)

Figure 1. Ethnomathematics in farming activities in Waidamo Sahu Timur Village

Research results and scientific discussions. Write down the scientific findings obtained from the research that has been conducted and supported by adequate data. These scientific findings must be explained scientifically by considering questions such as; What are the scientific findings obtained? Why did it happen? All of these questions must be explained scientifically, not just descriptively. In addition, the comparison with the results of other researchers with almost the same topic must also be explained. The results and discussion end with things that can be studied or researched further and the implications of the research results both theoretically and in applications in mathematics learning.

E. CONCLUSION

Based on the results of ethnomathematics exploration research on farming activities on the island of Halmahera, Waidamo Village, East Sahu District, it was found:

1. Calculation activities during planting, namely starting from preparing seeds, land and how to harvest crops,
2. Gratitude ritual activities, namely ethnomathematics that appear calculations, namely good planting time activities are determined by looking at weather changes, of course by carrying out ritual activities as an expression of gratitude to God Almighty,
3. Comparative activities of the process and harvest results, ethnomathematics that appear are activities of measuring, calculating and determining good planting times.

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