Designing translation learning trajectory using tayub dance context through RME assisted by GeoGebra

Abstract

The concept of translation plays a crucial role in geometry education, fostering students' spatial understanding, visual thinking, and transformational reasoning. Despite its importance, many students still struggle to abstract the concept of translation, demonstrating a low level of conceptual understanding and a limited ability to apply it in a coordinate context. To address this gap, this study introduces a culturally grounded, context-based learning design that integrates Tayub dancers' movement into translation learning. This study aims to develop a learning trajectory that supports students’ conceptual understanding of translation through meaningful and realistic mathematical experiences. This study involved 32 ninth-grade students from a public junior high school in Semarang. It employed a validation study design research methodology that included three phases: preliminary design, teaching experiment, and retrospective analysis. The learning activities were implemented using the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach assisted by GeoGebra. The resulting Learning Trajectory (LT) consisted of three interrelated activities: analyzing a video of Tayub dance movements to identify translation features; deriving formal rules for translation vectors through the “box arc” strategy and GeoGebra exploration; and solving a contextual problem involving the design of dancer formations. The findings indicate that integrating culturally relevant contexts and visual media into RME effectively enhances students' understanding of translation. This research contributes to the field by offering a novel approach that bridges ethnomathematics and the teaching of formal geometric transformations, and by serving as a reference for future studies seeking to incorporate local wisdom and technology into mathematics education.