Conceptualization and Development of a Web-based Platform for Multicultural Mathematics Resources

Abstract

This study reports on the conception and development of an online ethnomathematics instructional content repository for mathematics teachers. The study adopts a developmental research design to build a platform on WordPress, a free and open-source content management system (CMS) based on PHP & MySQL. The presentation in this paper begins with a broad background of the intent for building the website for multicultural mathematics resources. The conceptual discussion of ethnomathematics is next presented, followed by the theory of realistic mathematics education, which is a theoretical foundation of the study. Culture-based mathematics instructional design is then conceptualised. The details of the developmental research design follow this. The core deployment of the cleanroom software development model is presented and followed by the system specification of the developed web-based platform. A preliminary assessment of VillageMath’s navigation and structure indicated that the designed innovation has the potential to aid mathematics teachers in providing the necessary guided re-invention of the mathematics classroom along the culture-based continuum. The web-based platform for multicultural mathematics resources is designed to ground culture-based mathematics instruction and student learning in the values, norms, crafts, beliefs, practices, experiences, and language derived from existing indigenous knowledge systems.