In this week’s reading, Uffe Jankvist looks
into the purposes of teaching mathematics through its history, and how it
should be done. Is the purpose to learn
about the history of mathematics or is the purpose to use history to supplement
and further enrich the curriculum within lessons?
Those who argued for using history as a
tool, rather than a goal, put forth that history engages students and gives
math “a more human face.” (p.237)
Students can see that the problems that they are dealing with in mathematics,
are the very same problems that mathematical geniuses spent much of their lives
tackling. I have noticed that whenever a
subject is seen through the lens of history, my students have become more
engaged. I have found that almost every
student enjoys a story, and being read to.
If a teacher can incorporate a story into a lesson, that takes the
audience through a series of events that culminate in a problem being solved,
or even not solved, I believe that there is a good chance that the students will
be more interested in the subject matter.
When using history as a goal, the author
was clear that it was not to simply learn the history of mathematics, but
rather understand how mathematics has evolved and developed over time. I personally prefer using it as a tool,
because I would find it very difficult to include it in my curriculum. Then again, maybe there is a way to expose
students to the history and by doing so teach a prescribed learning outcome
(PLO) at the same time.
Jankvist discusses three different ways of
teaching history of mathematics:
1)
The illumination approach – the
teaching is supplemented by historical texts
2)
The module approach –
historical units are established (separate from the standard units)
3)
History-based approach – the
history is not directly taught, however it influences the possible order in
which mathematical units are introduced
Any one of these three approaches may be
applied to either teaching history as a tool or as a goal. I find myself leaning more towards the first
approach. I would like to believe that
our curriculum is already taking into account the third approach, however I
have noticed that some textbooks would have me believe otherwise. I find that the second approach separates the
history from the math too much.
Using history to teach mathematics is
definitely not for everyone. It may
confuse the students more than it will benefit them. Not all teachers are comfortable or
knowledgeable in regards to the history.
It is my belief that it should be a decision made by the individual
teacher, and not included in the curriculum necessarily.
I have limited knowledge of math history. Whenever I leaf through a math book to prepare for my next lesson, I occasionally read historical accounts of math events or important mathematicians. Using history as a goal helps me deal with some of my students' difficult questions mainly about math notation. I used to make up some stories about the origins of certain notations. Having done that for a while, I really felt guilty about it. Then, I began to read a bit about how certain notations were invented and evolved over time. Whenever asked about the origin of notation, I confidently tell authentic stories to my students to satisfy their curiosity. Talking about history briefly is interesting. But, I would not teach it in a lesson as I do not see its usefulness in improving students' mathematical aptitude.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to note the infusion of PLOs in this conversation. In my other class, EDCP 562, we read several articles which suggested (to me) that Ralph Tyler's work on assessment and evaluation was the cause of much of the problems faced by the educators today. As soon as we add a set of objectives to any form of learning, then we lose sight of the individuality in our students.
ReplyDeleteAs educators, we get sucked into strictly following the curriculum-as-planned verbatim. In this process, we often forget to bring into our classrooms our lived-curriculum. Our struggles and experiences when we were trying to learn the things that we are teaching now. I think that if we were to incorporate both of these curriculum into our teaching practices, then our teaching will trace out the historical aspects of mathematics. Oh wait, I should stop my nonsense now.