Week 1: Tzanakis and Arcavi (2002) on the Integration of Math History

        

        Prior to taking this class, I had written a paper on the Pythagorean Theorem and how it came to be in my undergraduate seminar class. Through constructing that paper, I learned that many civilizations utilized the same Pythagorean (triples) relationship in their day-to-day lives long before Euclid and Pythagoras’ time but I had no intent of incorporating the history of mathematics into my teaching back then. Stepping into the shoes of a teacher now, I believe math history could be a useful tool in getting students more interested in math. For instance, the history of the Pythagorean Theorem could be used to show students different perspectives and methods of applying the Pythagorean Theorem. It even shows students that often there is no one right way to get to an answer, and to push their creativity as well as curiosity levels. In addition, math history could be another way of incorporating different interests into math. A student who is passionate about Social Studies or English but struggles with math might be able to draw connections between the subjects through a passion project. With this being said, one of my concerns as a teacher who wants to integrate math history is that my knowledge on the history of mathematics is limited.

        What surprised me the most in “Integrating history of mathematics in the classroom: an analytic survey” by Tzanakis and Arcavi (2002) was that it brought to light how much I did not know I knew about math history. I had the misconception that I would be incapable of incorporating math history into the curriculum due to my limited knowledge on it. However, through this reading I realized that so much of what I studied in my undergraduate such as Euclid’s 5th Postulate, Goldbach’s conjecture, and even how to write proofs could be integrated in multiple ways. This reading also served as a reminder to me that many mathematical concepts can be understood by high school students. An example is Euclid’s Elements. I specifically connected it to how my seminar professor would constantly remind me how remarkable the proofs were purely on the fact that they could be understood by anyone, even those who did not have a strong math background – and that was what made math so interesting. I now have a newfound appreciation for it. 

        Post-reading, my outlook on math history integration has changed drastically and I am now approaching it with an open mind set. Tzanakis and Arcavi helped me take a step back and realize that the sky is the limit when it comes to incorporating math history into the classroom. One concept that made me pause and reflect was how math history could teach students how to appreciate different cultures and ethnic groups when practiced correctly (Tzanakis and Arcavi, 2002). This can impact the lives of students outside the classroom environment.

Tzanakis, C., Arcavi, A., de Sa, C. C., Isoda, M., Lit, C.-K., Niss, M., de Carvalho, J. P., Rodriguez, M., & Siu, M.-K. (2002). Integrating history of mathematics in the classroom: An analytic survey. In J. Fauvel & J. Van Maanen (Eds.), History in Mathematics Education (Vol. 6, pp. 201–240). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47220-1_7