What does an 800-year-old pastime game have to do with teaching mathematics in South African high schools?
According to North-West University (NWU) academic Prof Marthie van der Walt, playing indigenous games such as Morabaraba will help learners to better grasp mathematics.
Prof Van der Walt shared this significant research finding at the recent Southern African Association for the advancement of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (SAARMSTE) conference in Mahikeng.
“South African learners work according to a westernised curriculum, which makes it difficult for them to see the role that mathematics plays in their everyday experiences,” she said. “The wersternised curriculum is often taught in an abstract context that does not make sense to the learner.”
She said by incorporating indigenous knowledge games, mathematics can be made more relevant, accessible and meaningful for learners.
“The field of Game Studies is trending worldwide. More and more educators and researchers are exploring games to enhance learning.”
She said that since many of the digital games that are celebrated for their educational value are expensive and therefore inaccessible, using indigenous knowledge games is a great teaching resource.
She proposed the introduction of the Short Learning Programme (SLP) on Ethno-mathematics to increase mathematical relevance.
The SLP aims to introduce teachers to viable ways to contextualise maths in indigenous knowledge or real life contexts. IT also helps to develop teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge.
“The programme allows teachers to design maths lessons which are embedded in indigenous knowledge – the real life contexts and experiences of learners,” she added.
The SLP spans various topics. These include the different ways that multiplication are represented by different cultures; music and fractions; contextualising mathematics topics in indigenous games such as Morabaraba, and music-enabled conceptual understanding.
Funded by the Fuchs Foundation, Prof Van der Walt also developed the Tshimologo Mathematics Shoestring Kit to use with the SLP. This kit includes a magnetic board game with 2D geometrical puzzle pieces, magnetic vocabulary boards and strips, and eight games, including Morabaraba.
Learn more about Morabaraba:
http://www.africa-games.com/african_board_game.html
Prof Marthie van der Walt developed the Tshimologo Mathematics Shoestring Kit to use with the Short Learning Programme on Ethno-mathematics.
Boomwhackers and fractions. Maths and music plays different roles in society and overlap in all kinds of interesting ways.
