Pasttita Ayu Laksmiwati, Zsolt Lavicza, Adi Nur Cahyono, Fadhlan Muchlas Abrori, Miftahul Hidayah, Tony Houghton
Integrating culturally relevant context into STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education has the potential to promote meaningful learning for students. We investigated two case studies on implementing culturally relevant technology-enhanced learning, utilizing GeoGebra while exploring a tessellation project. To support our investigation, we conducted interviews, reflective practices, and document analysis. We analyzed the data by employing thematic analysis involving coding and descriptive analysis. We identified three main themes and eight sub-themes, namely the planning of learning, learning experiences, and action plans. We focused on the similarities and differences in the perspectives of urban and rural teachers and the significance of tessellation context in culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). The results from teachers’ feedback revealed a positive impact on students, especially in raising their awareness and empathy for their cultures and surroundings, providing insights into the similarities and differences between rural and urban schools. The findings showed the significance of tessellation context in CRP, which could contribute to promoting quality and understanding in middle-level education, especially between the ages of 10 and 15. However, we recognize that CRP not only fosters a positive learning environment but also requires further exploration for broader implementation across diverse contexts. © 2025 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
School of Education at Johannes Kepler University, Austria; Department of STEM Education, Linz School of Education, Johannes Kepler University, Austria; Department of Mathematics, Universitas Negeri Semarang in Indonesia, Indonesia; Department of Biology, Universitas Borneo Tarakan in Indonesia and was a PhD student at the Linz School of Education at Johannes Kepler University, Austria; Department of STEM Education, Linz School of Education, Johannes Kepler University, Austria
