Through the years of learning math through the ages, it is abundantly clear that the history of Mathematics is rarely if not at all discussed in the classroom. During my years of learning math particularly in high school, I remember being given these formulas, symbols, and theorems. I was told to universally accept these concepts and not question it at all. By incorporating some history behind these notions, I think this will spark people’s curiosity and will help these students make connections to these materials. In this way, I strongly believe students are able to retain this knowledge for a long time and understand that Math is a very long process.


    I was surprised to see that Non-Euclidean geometry was mentioned and as I previously mentioned in my pre-reading thoughts, ideas were generally universally accepted especially during high school. What we normally learn is how Euclid is a very talented Mathematician and how he is the founder of Euclidean geometry filled with many axioms, postulates, and theorems. However, there were people that did not agree with Euclid’s findings and went on to prove his ways wrong which I did in my personal paper a few years back. It made me realize that Math is always evolving and as the reading affirms, we should be questioning such ideas and see if there are any flaws. Throughout the history of time, Math has always been in an evolving and changing state. Another point that caught my eye was the mentioning of worksheets, particularly the second part. I agree with the ideas that are presented the way that worksheets should be a guided process to introduce a new topic. By exploring the historical context, students are able to make comparisons on old and current approaches and questioning people’s way of thinking.

    After reading this article, I really want to incorporate engagement between the student and the learner by introducing some context to some materials. I have seen far too much materials being thrown at students and students not being able to absorb them at all. By incorporating history in my teachings, students will see that it took a lengthy process to develop the mathematical concepts today. I hope that this will help students to question their learning and I believe this will help develop critical thinking, analysis, and other skills needed to succeed not just in Math, but other courses as well.  

Comments

  1. Amanda FritzlanOctober 2, 2022 at 1:47 PM

    You make a very good point about building an appreciation for the long and continually evolving nature of mathematics through teaching histories and also comparing methods and ideas from different periods. Critical thinking skills and deep understanding of concepts will serve students well in the long run.

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