Abstract
Research has shown that Indigenous students often perform poorly in traditional math classes because the Western approach to mathematics is often not aligned with their cultural ways of learning and problem-solving. This study examined the Indigenous West Papuan students' cognitive styles and their errors in solving math word problems and identified how Indigenous cultural contexts could help Papuan students solve math word problems and mitigate errors. Although findings showed the prevalence of field dependent style among Indigenous West Papuan students, which is related to some Indigenous ways of learning - e.g. organizes information with whole patterns, delights in learning material with social content, and prefers to work in a group - , it is important to understand that individual experiences and various factors could affect learning outcomes beyond cognitive styles. Instead of trying to change student characteristics, it might be more effective to implement culturally responsive curricula and teaching practices that respect the cultural backgrounds of Indigenous students. The study also found that incorporating Indigenous cultural contexts in the design of math problems helped students solve math word problems more accurately and might help address some of the educational barriers faced by West Papuan students.