Incorporating students' funds of knowledge to promote Indonesian students' engagement in learning physics

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to consider cultural issues in the context of the teaching of physics in Indonesia. The connection between students' culture, home experiences and how experiential knowledge of students which is identified as funds of knowledge have been incorporated into learning of. This study took place within two sub-urban Junior High Schools in Indonesia. The students participated in this study were 173 students which consisted of 94 males and 79 females, most were 13-14 years old. The findings revealed that incorporating students' funds of knowledge in teaching physics improved students' engagement in learning physics. Students felt that approaching the physics concept through the context of everyday life made the content of physics more understandable and interesting. Most students expected that the teaching process should be in the form of physics experiment or other hands-on activities. Their responses demonstrated more informed view of students' preferences to learning environment. 89% of the students preferred to learn physics through hands-on activities. In other word, this shows a critical problem face which learning revolves is the absence of access to participation in meaningful physics related activity.