Exploring students' perceptions of learning equilibrium concepts through making Bulan kites
This study reports students' perceptions of learning the physics concepts of equilibrium through making Bulan kites. The Bulan kite encompasses indigenous knowledge related to the teachings and ideas found in Islam. After a workshop where students (n = 109) made the Bulan kite under the tutelage of a local expert, students (n = 12) were interviewed to distil their thoughts of the learning experience and their understanding of the concepts. The interviews were transcribed and content analysis was carried out. The findings indicate that students were able to make connections between the ideas of equilibrium and the art of kite construction which is based on indigenous knowledge. The kite making process also presented students with opportunities to be more aware of the value of local indigenous knowledge and motivated them in physics learning. We also discussed how indigenous knowledge can be incorporated meaningfully into physics learning.
Enhancing students' learning of the concept of equilibrium through a culturally responsive inquiry of the Bulan kite
This article presents an empirical study of the use of Indigenous knowledge of the Bulan kite to teach the concept of “equilibrium” among Muslim students (n = 109 students) in private Islamic schools (in the southern part of Thailand). The design of the culturally responsive teaching comprising three lessons was guided by the 5E model. The study took 7 months from creating three lesson plans and a pre- and post-test until it was implemented in the physics classroom. A pre- and a post-test with 40 multiple-choice items were used to assess students’ understanding of equilibrium. A hypothetical model of the construct was validated using a dichotomous Rasch model. To measure learning gains, we fixed the pre- and post-item difficulties and estimated the post-instruction person’s ability. The Welch t-test was used to compare the means of pre- and post-instruction person ability. The results indicated that the Rasch model fits the data well. The hypothetical model was confirmed. The successful students showed the person measures with a statistically significant increase (p < 0.01) at the end of the intervention (M2 = 1.061, SD2 = 0.64) compared to the person measures before the implementation (M1 = − 0.001, SD1 = 0.591). The implications for learning progression of students are discussed.