Development of ethnomathematics-based comic media: A study of Papalele culture

This study is motivated by students’ low ability to understand mathematics materials, particularly the System of Linear Equations in Two Variables (SLETV), as well as their limited ability to relate mathematical concepts to everyday life. The learning process, which is still teacher-centered and lacks the use of engaging instructional media, causes students to be less active and easily bored. In addition, the integration of local culture into mathematics learning remains very limited. This study aims to develop an ethnomathematics-based comic media that is valid, practical, and effective for teaching the topic of SLETV by incorporating the Papalele culture of Ambon City. The research employed a Research and Development (R&D) method using the ADDIE development model, which consists of the stages of Analyze, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The subjects of this study were eighth-grade students of SMP Negeri 15 Ambon. The research instruments included validation sheets, observation sheets, teacher and student response questionnaires, and learning outcome tests. The results of the study indicate that the ethnomathematics-based comic media met the validity criteria with an average validation score of 3.51. The media was also considered practical based on positive responses from teachers at 88.9% and students at 82.8%. Furthermore, the media proved to be effective based on the t-test results, with a significance value of 0.003 < 0.05, indicating a significant difference between the experimental class and the control class. Therefore, the ethnomathematics-based comic is appropriate for use in mathematics learning. The implications of this study show that integrating local culture into learning media can enhance students’ motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes, while also helping preserve regional culture through education.