African Educational Research Journal - Vol. 13(3) - Full Length Research Paper - The Akan ethnomathematics as pedagogical tool under the context of technology integration in promoting conceptual understanding in mensuration

Oct 15, 2026

The objective of the study was to use mortar to teach the concept of the surface area of a cylinder. The target group included knowledgeable Akan traditional artists, seasoned mathematics teachers, and senior highschool students from the Ashanti Region in Ghana. Data collection tools included Focus Group Discussions and interviews, with informed consent, privacy, and ethical clearance from the School of Graduate Studies, AAMUSTED. Two 60-minute lessons were planned, taught, and assessed, using technology tools and the mortar as a local artefact. Findings showed Akan culture can support relational understanding, improving achievement, interest, creativity, critical thinking, innovativeness, confidence, and problem-solving.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background on ethnomathematics

Rationale for culturally relevant, technology-integrated instruction

Akan culture and mensuration as a pedagogical tool

Methods

Instructional design and lesson implementation

Learning materials and data collection approach

Results and Discussion

Insights from interviews and FGDs

Implications for learners’ skills and engagement

Conclusion

Summary of educational outcomes

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 13(3), pp. 342-351, August 2025 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper The Akan ethnomathematics as pedagogical tool under the context of technology integration in promoting conceptual understanding in mensuration Seth Amoako Atta*, Ebenezer Bonyah, Francis Ohene Boateng and Prince Kusi Department of Mathematics, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development, Ghana. Accepted 4 August, 2025 | ABSTRACT
The objective of the study was to use mortar to teach the concept of the surface area of a cylinder. The target group included knowledgeable Akan traditional artists, seasoned mathematics teachers, and senior highschool students from the Ashanti Region in Ghana. Data collection tools included Focus Group Discussionsand interviews, with informed consent, privacy, and ethical clearance from the School of Graduate Studies, AAMUSTED. We pre-planned, taught, and assessed two 60-minute lessons on deriving the formula for the surface area of a cylinder. The session utilised technology tools such as: a laptop, projector, cylindrical object images, a tape measure, a cardboard metre rule, activity cards, and the mortar, as a local tool. The analysis of the interview data and the FGD revealed that the Akan culture has connections with school geometry that can enhance relational understanding. We concluded that this approach, aside from improving academic achievement, can also increase student interest, creative skills, critical thinking, innovativeness, help students overcome fear, and, above all, become creative problem-solvers.
Keywords: Akan ethnomathematics, artefact, fufu, mortar. | | --- | | *Corresponding author. E-mail: [sethamoako@rocketmail.com](sethamoako@rocketmail.com). | INTRODUCTION There have been several studies among mathematics educators aimed at finding ways of providing realistic mathematics instruction for all students (Atta and Brantuo, 2021) . This is due to the realization of the increasing importance of mathematics and its applications for society, and the availability of new insights in the teaching and learning of mathematics. One of the mathematics pedagogies that is gaining currency among mathematics educators is Ethnomathematics. Albanese (2021) also describes ethnomathematics as a kind of mathematics practiced among specific cultural groups. Ethnomathematics aims to foster both the understanding of culture and the understanding of mathematics in a way that can lead to an appreciation of the two (Meaney et al. , 2021) . The term "ethnomathematics" entered the world of education around 1997 by Brazilian educator and mathematician Ubiratan D'Ambrosio during a presentation for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Ethno refers to people of a cultural group characterised by their traditions, codes, symbols, myths, and distinctive ways to reason and infer (Rosa and Orey, 2007) as cited in (Atta and Bonyah, 2023a) . Mathema means to explain and understand the world so that cultural groups can transcend, manage, and cope with reality. Tics refers to processes such as counting, ordering, sorting, measuring, weighing, ciphering, categorising, inferring, and modelling. When ethnomathematics first appeared as a field of study, it was a reaction to historical evidence of a conscious devaluing of the mathematics produced and advanced by non-European civilizations (Atta et al, 2024) . That was the era when people thought that the only path Atta et al. 343 to understanding mathematics was to come from Western civilization. Researchers who believe in ethnomathematics and mathematics education believe that it is essential to recognize the cultural context of mathematics for students through teaching culturally relevant mathematics (Rosa, 2020; Rosa et al. , 2016) . In order for mathematics education to influence the political and social dynamics of culture, mathematics instruction must be founded o

FAQs

What was the main objective of the study?

To use mortar as a pedagogical tool to teach the concept of the surface area of a cylinder.

Who were the target participants in the study?

The study involved knowledgeable Akan traditional artists, experienced mathematics teachers, and senior high school students from Ghana’s Ashanti Region.

What tools and approach were used during the lessons?

Two 60-minute lessons were taught and assessed using technology tools (e.g., laptop, projector, images, tape measure, cardboard metre rule, activity cards) alongside mortar as a local tool.

Oct 15, 2026

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