Educational Research and Review Vol. 4 (8), pp.

385-390, August, 2009

Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
ISSN 1990-3839 © 2009 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of ethnomathematics teaching approach on

senior secondary students’ achievement and retention
in locus
Emmanuel E. Achor1*, Benjamin I. Imoko1 and Emmanuel S. Uloko2
1
Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Benue State University, Makurdi-Nigeria.
2
Department of Mathematics, College of Advanced and Professional Studies, Makurdi-Nigeria.
Accepted 26 July, 2009

This study determined the effectiveness of ethnomathematics teaching approach, ETA on students’
achievement and retention in Locus. The study was carried out in education zone B of Benue State of
Nigeria using a sample size of 253 Senior Secondary 2 (SS 2) students. It was a non equivalent quasi-
experimental study which was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. Locus
Achievement Test (LAT) instrument with a reliability coefficient of 0.78 was used as pre, post and
delayed tests though reshuffled each time. Answers to the research questions were given using mean
and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 significant level using a 2-way analysis
of covariance (ANCOVA). Results from the analysis revealed that students exposed to ETA were
superior in achievement and retention than those taught with conventional approach. Thus there were
significant differences between the mean score of the students taught Locus with ETA and those taught
with the conventional approach in both achievement (F1, 248 = 241.317, p = 0.000) and retention (F1, 248 =
270.421,p = 0.000). The study therefore recommended training of mathematics teachers on the use of
ethnomathematics in their daily lessons especially in Locus with a view to making learning meaningful,
relevant and interesting.

Key words: Ethnomathematics, achievement, retention, teaching methods, locus in mathematics, geometry.

INTRODUCTION

The need to acquire knowledge in Mathematics in the compared with the eleven other English speaking West
world over has become very obvious. This is because it is African countries in mathematics in School Certificate
relevant to everyday living and in various disciplines. As a Examination (Abakpa and Agbo - Egwu, 2008).
follow up, it has been a compulsory subject both at Attempts to find solution to this incessant failure have
primary and secondary school levels in Nigeria. Its use- made researchers in mathematics education to consider
fulness in technological development of the nation as well a number of factors. One of such factors which is closely
as to mankind (Azuka, 2003; Salman, 2003; Imoko, 2004; re-examined in this study is the inappropriate method of
Uloko and Usman, 2008) further stresses the need for it. teaching. According to Harbor-Peters (2001), low
As important as the subject is, the tremendous and achievement in mathematics is caused by the teachers’
persistent failures of the Nigerian Students in it (Sanni non utilization of appropriate teaching approaches.
and Ochepa, 2002; Uloko and Imoko, 2007; Abakpa and The researchers in this study quite agree with the
Agbo - Egwu, 2008) has remained a major threat to its observations made in some certain quarters that, the
learning. The failure rate was so high that Nigeria was method of teaching mathematics in Nigeria is completely
found to occupy the second to the last position when out of phase with background and local environments of
the learners. Further, that this method is foreign in nature,
has no bearing with the Nigeria culture, and purely de-
rived from euro-centric culture (Obodo, 1997; Kurumeh,
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. 2004; Uloko, 2006; Uloko and Imoko, 2007; Uloko and

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2618193

386 Educ. Res. Rev.

Ogwuche, 2007). One of the consequences of over to explain the reality of relationship between cultural
dependence on foreign approaches to teaching mathe- environment and mathematics while teaching. For the
matics is the seemingly lack of basic mathematical purpose of this study, ETA is defined as the use of
principles which results to rote-learning and low achieve- familiar and immediate environments of a learner in tea-
ment in mathematics as could be seen in Nigeria today. ching him mathematics. It is an approach that translates
Attempts to address this problem have necessitated the the foreign or euro-centric mathematics to suit the back-
fact that teachers should evolve strategies that will ground and familiar environment of the learner for
ensure active participation of learners, practical oriented, meaningful teaching and learning. Of particular interest is
project oriented and applicable (Obodo, 1997; the practical approach. This study intends to employ the
D’Ambrosio, 2001; Kurumeh, 2004; Uloko, 2006). This reach cultural environment of the study area especially
seems to call for the option of giving ethnomathematics a their farming and building activities to teach Locus in
trial; being a teaching approach, which focuses students’ Mathematics.
background, their immediate environments integrated The secrete behind the Japanese’s and Chinese’s
with the euro-centric mathematics in a practical way as success in mathematics, science and technology today is
demanded by the concept of Locus. traceable to their use of ethnomathematics (Tereziaha,
Ethnomathematics is the study of mathematics which 1999; Obodo, 2000; Kurumeh, 2004; Uloko and Imoko,
takes into consideration the culture in which mathematics 2007). This study therefore, investigates whether the use
arises (Kurumeh, 2004). She stresses further that if we of ETA (which combines indigenous with foreign mathe-
conceptualize mathematics as the development of struc- matics backgrounds) will also help Nigerian students
tures and systems of ideas involving number, pattern, achieve high in Locus. In this study, all the present
logic and spatial configuration and then examine how teaching approaches other than ethnomathematics put
mathematics arises and is used in various cultures, it is together is referred to as conventional approach.
possible to gain a much deeper understanding of the It is one thing to be taught mathematics via a preferred
subject. Perhaps such understanding may depend on the approach such as ETA; it is another thing to remember it
section of mathematics (e.g. Locus) being considered. after some reasonable period of time must have elapsed,
Locus can simply be explained as the path traced by a that is retention. Retention as defined by Hornby (2001)
point under specific conditions (Osuagwu, Anemalu and is the ability to remember things. For the purpose of this
Onyeozili, 2000). This path may be a straight line; it may study, retention is defined as the ability to keep or retain
be a curve as parabola, trajectory or circle as ellipse. It is the knowledge of locus learnt and to be able to recall it
a concept that occupies a central place in the study of when required. Retention in mathematics is not acquired
geometry. For instance, the study of conic sections in by mere rote-memorization but through appropriate
geometry is purely locus. Geometry is a branch of mathe- teaching method (Iji, 2002; Chianson, 2008). According to
matics that deals with the measure and properties of the findings of Iji (2002), and Chianson (2008), those
points, lines, curves and surfaces. Geometry forms the students in the experimental group retained more of the
building blocks of engineering and technical graphics. learnt mathematics than those in the control group
Further, the conic section of geometry which is purely lo- although for Iji the noted difference was not statistically
cus is of great importance to astronomy, mechanics and significant.
technology (Aleksandrov, Kolmogorov and Lav-rent’ev,
2005). The repeated record of poor performance in Statement of the problem
geometry which locus is central, demands urgent atten-
tion if the country must have a breakthrough in science Students, parents, educators, government and the popu-
and technology. Since the study of the field in focus calls lace are worried because of the persistent poor achieve-
for practical activities, the use of the environment with its ment of students in mathematics. Evidence shows that
loaded cultural contents or simply ethnomathematics is this condition is deplorably high, to the point that Nigeria
considered appropriate. students start competing for the last position instead of
Ethnomathematics is the cultural utility of mathematics as first in mathematics in School Certificate Examination
a science (Harbor-Peters, 2001). To D’Ambrosio (2001), among the eleven English-speaking West African Coun-
it is an approach of teaching and learning mathe-matics tries. Also there is evidence to lend support to the fact
which builds on the students’ previous knowledge, that this poor achievement and retention is as a result of
background, the role his environment plays in terms of non-utilization of appropriate teaching approaches in the
content and method, and his past and present experien- subject. One wonders why all the methods used so far
ces of his immediate environment. To him the approach are not capable of reversing this ugly trend. It is however
could be in a practical way. It is on this basis that this noted that the use of ETA has not been tried out in
study investigates the effect of Ethnomathematics Tea- Nigeria, particularly in locus to see if it could reverse this
ching Approach (ETA) (employing its practical attributes) poor achievement. Therefore, the problem of this study is
on achievement and retention of students in Locus. how to provide evidence on the effectiveness or other-
According to Kurumeh (2004), ETA is an approach used wise of the use of ethnomathematics teaching approach

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2618193

 Achor et al. 387

on students’ achievement and retention in Locus. 1. What is the relative effect of the use of ETA and
conventional teaching method on students’ mean
achievement scores in Locus?
Ethnomathematics and its practical application in 2. What is the relative effect of the use of ETA and con-
locus ventional teaching methods on students’ mean retention
Ethnomathematcs was a coined term first introduced in scores in Locus?
1986 by a Brazilian mathematics educator, Ubiratan D’
Ambrosio. This concept is deeply rooted in the idea and Hypotheses
philosophy of Paul Freire. Simply, ethno refers to the
‘cultural context’ while mathema refers ‘to explain’, ‘to These null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of
know’ or ‘to understand’ and tics has to do with techne significance:
which is also rooted in art and techniques. Thus accor-
ding to Davidson (2000), Ethnomathematics is the art or 1. There is no significant difference in the mean achieve-
technique of explaining, knowing and understanding ment scores of students taught Locus using ETA and
diverse cultural contexts. Further, Shirley (1995) says those taught using the conventional approach.
that Ethnomathematics has come to include the docu- 2. There is no significant difference in the mean retention
mentation and the study of culturally related learning scores of students taught Locus with ETA and those
styles. It is found to facilitate development of learners in taught with the conventional approach.
Mathemathics especially women (Gilmer and Milwankee,
2001; Knijinik, 1997). In particular, Mogari (2002) found RESEARCH METHOD
the use of ETA to be efficacious. In the present study,
how the people roof their round hut thatch houses and This study was a non equivalent quasi-experimental design. The
mark their farms is particularly employed. reason for adopting this design was that the researchers found it
difficult to randomize every subject (Ezeh, 2005). Intact classes
The people of Benue State of Nigeria especially Educa- were therefore used.
tion zone B which comprise of the Tiv speaking tribe The population comprised of all the SS 2 students in education
mainly have very rich cultural practices that could be zone B of Benue State, Nigeria. The choice of this population was
used to advantage to teach Locus in Mathematics. They because the concept of Locus is taught in SS 2.
dwell in hut thatch houses mainly in all rural areas and The sample for this study was 253 SS 2 students. Multi stage
sampling was involved. First four schools were sampled out of the
are predominantly farmers. Consequently how they roof
rest schools in the zone for the study. Thereafter, two intact classes
their houses and mark or map out their yam farms in were selected from each of these schools. Two schools were
interesting. randomized and assigned experimental and control groups
Let us consider their roofing style. The people begin respectively. The experimental group was taught with ETA while the
roofing of their round hut houses on plain ground starting control group was taught with the conventional approach. The
by knotting loosely a syrup rope (that is, a circle or an experimental group comprised 131 male and female students while
the control group comprise of 122 male and female students,
ellipse). Thereafter, two sticks of a required length are making a total of 253 students used for the study.
pushed through the circle. The sticks are then made to The instrument used in the study was Locus Achievement Test
stand erect on flat ground and separated from one ano- (LAT) which was both face and content validated. The validation
ther by a required distance at the base, that is, the part was done by two experts in measurement and evaluation and three
touching the ground. The angle can then be measured. experts in mathematics education.
Further, more sticks are pushed through the loosely tied LAT was used for pre, post and delayed tests to collect data but
reshuffled each time. A 20 items LAT was comprehensively deve-
knot to enable further works on the roofing and to allow loped based on a table of specification. The instrument was then
the cone-shaped roof stand on its base. administered on students as pre test before commencement of the
The students were brought out of the class to do this teaching. After two weeks of teaching, LAT was reshuffled and re-
practically. This was accompanied by measurements administered on the students as post test. After another two weeks
such angles, diameter and radius of circle as well as the it was again reshuffled and administered as retention test. The
reliability coefficient of Lat using Cronmbach Alpha was 0.78. This
length of sticks used.
was considered reliable enough to be used for data collection in this
In farm mapping, boundaries are created with straight study.
lines which sometimes are imagined and in recent time Two regular mathematics teachers from each of these four
determined with rope. In the process pegs are used to schools were used to teach the students. These research assis-
ensure that the shape expected (e.g., rectangular, tants were trained by the researchers one week before the com-
square, etc) is obtained. The practical approach was mencement of the study. The training exercise was based on the
purpose of the study, the topic to be taught, the use of the lesson
used in the preparation of the lesson plans and as well plans, the use of the LAT as well as general conduct of the study.
the teaching of the experimental group. These teachers were trained to teach both the experimental and
control groups. The teachers to teach the experimental groups used
ethnomathematics teaching approach. Those to teach the control
Research questions groups used the normal class teaching- called conventional in this
study.
These research questions guided the study: Ethnomathematics teaching approach as used in this study in-
388 Educ. Res. Rev.

Table 1. Mean achievement scores and standard deviation of

subjects in the experimental and control groups.

Teaching method Type of test N Mean SD

Pre-Test 131 12.1374 5.8188
Ethnomathematics
Post-Test 131 45.3435 9.8487
Pre-Test 122 11.1475 7.4630
Conventional
Post-Test 122 25.9426 11.1216

volves taking the students out of class to practically undertake tional method on students’ mean retention scores in
some culturally loaded activities like house roofing and farm layout. Locus?
Specifically, students were made to roof houses, lay out some
farms and in the process take measurements to be further used in
Answer to research question 2 is found in Table 3.
calculation. Since the focus is Locus, emphasis was on straight line, Table 3 shows that the mean retention scores of stu-
circle/ellipse, trajectories and parabolic shapes. It was ensured that dents taught with ETA was 58.0142, standard deviation
all the teachers used equal length of time (two weeks) to teach the was 5.3215, while that of the student taught with
concept to both groups. Throughout the exercise, the researchers conventional approach was 21.4501 with standard devia-
went round to supervise and ensured smooth teaching in all tion of 12.3522. This implies that ETA is more effective
classes.
than the conventional approach in teaching locus.
Hypothesis 2 was further tested to confirm this answer.
RESULTS

The results of the study were presented according to the Hypothesis 2

research questions and hypotheses.
There is no significant difference between the mean
retention scores of students taught with ETA and those
Question 1 taught with the conventional approach. Result for testing
hypothesis 2 is contained in Table 4.
What is the relative effect of the use of ETA and Result in Table 4 shows that the noted difference
conventional teaching method on students’ mean achi- between the mean retention scores of those taught with
evement scores in Locus? ETA and those taught with the conventional approach is
Answer to research question 1 is found in Table 1. significant at .05 alpha level. The stated null hypothesis
Table 1 shows that the mean achievement scores of was therefore rejected.
students taught with ETA was 45.34, standard deviation
was 9.84 while that of the students taught with conven-
tional approach was 25.94 with standard deviation of DISCUSSION
11.12. This implies that ETA is more efficacious than the
conventional approach. This study has shown that students taught with ETA had
Hypothesis 1 was therefore tested to confirm this a higher mean achievement score (45.34) in Locus than
answer. their counterparts taught with conventional approach with
(25.94) mean achievement score. This was further con-
firmed by the results in Table 2 which reveals that the
Hypothesis 1 difference in achievement between the experimental and
control groups was significant (F1.248 = 241.317, p <
There is no significant difference in the mean achieve- 0.000). The reason for this higher achievement by the
ment scores of students taught Locus with ETA and ETA group could be that the students were able to
those taught using conventional approach. integrate or link their background of study and their
The analyzed data for testing hypothesis 1 is found in immediate environment with the foreign aspect of the
Table 2. learning of Locus. This finding is in agreement with that of
Results in Table 2 reveal that the noted difference Uloko and Usman (2008). The teaching was done in a
between the mean achievement scores of those taught practical way and as such it flows from home to school
with ETA and those taught with the conventional and from school to one’s trade and to everyday living
approach is significant at .05 alpha level. The null hypo- (Uloko and Ogwuche, 2007). Thus the abstract nature of
thesis was therefore rejected. teaching and learning of mathematics seemed to have
been reduced. This agreed with the definition of ethno-
Question 2 mathematics by D’Ambrosio (2001) who states that it is
an approach of teaching and learning of mathematics that
What is the relative effect of the use of ETA and conven- builds on the background, the role his environment play
 Achor et al. 389

Table 2. Two-way ANCOVA result on subjects achievement scores in LAT.

Source of variance Type III sum of square Df. Mean square F Sig. Result
Corrected model 33927.279 4 8481.757 120.70 .000 S
Intercept 38217.279 1 38217.279 543.895 .000 S
PRELAT 6672.535 1 6672.535 241.317 .000 S
Method 16956.346 1 16956.346 241.317 .000 S
Error 17425.988 248 70.266
Total 379025.000
Corrected Total 51352964.00
S = Significant at p < 0.5

Table 3. Mean Retention Scores and Standard Deviation in LAT of

subjects in the Experimental and control groups.

Teaching method Type of test N Mean SD

Post – Test 131 45.3435 5.8188
Ethnomathematics
Retention 131 58.0142 5.3215
Post – Test 122 25.9426 11.1216
Conventional
Retention 122 21.4501 12.3522

Table 4. Two-way ANCOVA Result of Retention Scores in LAT of Subjects in Experimental and Control
groups.

Source of variance Type III sum of square Df Mean square F Sig. Result
Corrected model 36051.426 4 9261.352 125.52 .000 S
Intercept 40114.426 1 40114.426 640.536 .000 S
PRELAT 7840.625 1 7840.625 270.421 .000 S
Method 18396.421 1 18396.421 270.421 .000 S
Error 19145.683 248 75.472
Total 396136.000
Corrected Total 66094788.00
S = Significant at p < .05

in terms of content and method, and his past and present and Chianson (2008) who found that students in the
experiences. This also agrees with earlier observations experimental group retain better than those in the
that failure in mathematics in Nigeria is due to the fact conventional group. Table 4 reveals that the difference
that the teaching and learning is purely foreign in nature between the retention means scores of experimental and
(Obodo, 1997; Kurumeh, 2004; Uloko, 2006; Uloko and a control groups is statistically significant (F1, 248=270.421,
Imoko, 2007; Uloko and Ogwuche, 2007). The high p < .000). This disagrees with Iji (2004) who in his study
achievement of students in this study also shows that found that the difference was not significant statistically.
when ETA is used in a practical way it could be an
effective teaching approach. This agrees with the view of
D’Ambrosio (2001) which states that ETA can also be Conclusion and Recommendation
used in a practical way. Thus as Harbor - Peters (2001)
stated, low achievement of students in mathematics Achievement and retention in Locus in this study depend
could therefore be attributed to non-utilization of on the approach of instruction. The students exposed to
appropriate teaching approach. ETA were superior in achievement and retention than
Table 3 shows that the retention mean scores (58.01) those exposed to conventional teaching method. In
of students taught using ETA is higher than the retention general, ETA has proved to be a viable option in promo-
mean scores (21.35) of those taught with the conven- ting meaningful learning in Locus. Hence, it is recom-
tional approach. This agrees with the results of Iji (2004) mended that mathematics teachers should be trained on
390 Educ. Res. Rev.

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