Design principles for culturally contextualized immersive mathematics learning: Integrating virtual reality, ethnomathematics, and realistic mathematics education
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Developing students’ numeracy and mathematical abstraction requires learning environments that meaningfully connect formal mathematics with learners’ cultural experiences while supporting progressive conceptual development. Although Virtual Reality (VR), ethnomathematics, and Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) have each demonstrated potential to enrich mathematics learning, empirically validated design principles for integrating these approaches remain scarce. This study addressed this gap by developing and evaluating a VR-based Ethno-Realistic Mathematics Education (Ethno-RME) e-module grounded in Baduy cultural practices to enhance students’ numeracy and mathematical abstraction while generating transferable instructional design principles. An Educational Design Research (EDR) methodology was implemented through iterative cycles of problem analysis, prototype development, expert validation, formative classroom evaluation, and refinement, followed by a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design involving 72 eighth-grade students (36 experimental and 36 control) during a six-week intervention. The iterative design process generated four complementary principles: contextualizing mathematical tasks through authentic Baduy cultural practices, supporting progressive abstraction with immersive VR representations, scaffolding transitions from concrete experiences to symbolic reasoning through the RME learning trajectory, and embedding adaptive reflective tasks to strengthen conceptual development. Expert evaluation confirmed strong content validity (Aiken’s V ≥ .80; S-CVI = .93), and the instruments demonstrated high reliability (α = .83; κ = .87). Compared with the control group, students receiving the Ethno-RME intervention achieved significantly higher learning outcomes (posttest M = 82.1 vs. 65.3; N-gain = .72; ANCOVA: F(1,69) = 28.47, p < .001, η²p = .292, d = 1.21), progressed from perceptual grounding to symbolic formalization, increased the proportion reaching the highest abstraction level from 11.6% to 61.1%, and reduced conceptual errors by 38%. The e-module also demonstrated high usability (SUS = 82.3) and implementation fidelity (.92). These findings contribute empirically grounded design principles that extend the integration of VR, ethnomathematics, and RME and provide a transferable framework for culturally responsive mathematics learning that promotes numeracy and mathematical abstraction.
Source: Journal on Mathematics Education
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $250
OpenAlex ID: W7212003067