Response to: Why teach the history of mathematics?

       I believe that incorporating history of math within math education will enable unconventional approach to mathematical concepts. The history of math can provide information about why and how a mathematical concept was discovered and studied. Also, variations between the modern language and the historical expression within a mathematical context can be helpful to learn different perspectives and methods from what is being taught in a traditional math class. Hence, I think that learning the math history will allow students to explore mathematical concepts in depth and beyond numbers, symbols, and formulas. 

    From the article, I related the most to the quote, "mathematics is not a rigidly structured system of results, but a continuously evolving human intellectual process," as I strongly agree that mathematics is a process of identifying problems, finding solutions, and explaining it in its language. The history of math is a part of that process, and I think it is significant to learn that historical piece to have deeper understandings of mathematics. On the other hand, objections to incorporating the math history, especially lack of time, resources, and assessment, made me wonder about what I would have to prioritize between the history and the contents within teaching mathematics.

    After reading the article, I believe that the math history is a crucial part of learning mathematics. I also believe that learning about the math history would help students to understand how learning math is necessary and how it connects to other subjects, which would encourage inquiry-based learning as well. My assignment as a teacher candidate should be discovering the most effective way to incorporate the math history within the math curriculum.


Citation:

Tzanakis, Constantinos, et al. “Integrating History of Mathematics in the Classroom: An Analytic Survey.” History in Mathematics Education, 2002, pp. 201–240., https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47220-1_7.







Comments

  1. Amanda Fritzlan24 September 2022 at 09:29

    You are being very realistic about the job of a teacher who cannot get to everything to make judgements about what to prioritize for the benefit of the students. And competitive education systems tend to reward content knowledge and skills. However, I really like that you are thinking in terms of student engagement and developing inquiry skills in the math classroom too. I completely agree with you about the history of mathematics being an integral part of deep learning, and interest, in math for your students.

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