Abstract
Numeracy is an essential foundational skill for students to comprehend and apply mathematical concepts in daily life, serving as the basis for cultivating critical and logical thinking abilities necessary to navigate challenges in the digital age. But the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) study shows that Indonesian students’ math skills are still below the world average. The National Assessment results from 2024 show that junior high school students in the Malaka district still have “very poor” literacy and numeracy skills. The goal of this research is to create a way for students in Malaka to learn about local culture and use technology to help them get better at math. An HLT was created using a design research method. The research tools are numeracy tests, observation sheets, and rules for conducting interviews. The pilot experiment uncovered significant challenges, including misunderstandings regarding negative numbers and obstacles in translating context to symbols. The teaching experiment demonstrated substantial enhancements in numeracy skills and heightened learning motivation. These results show that combining local culture and technology in math lessons works to help students understand concepts better and improve their math skills. The outcome of this research is local instructional theories (LIT) tailored for the acquisition of integers, aimed at enhancing students’ numeracy skills.
Keywords: Design Research, Local Culture, Numbers, Numeracy, Technology.