The Use of The History of Mathematics in Teaching-Learning Process: The Perspectives of Faculty Members and Teachers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52963/PERR_Biruni_V10.N2.17Keywords:
Foreign language, speaking anxiety, sethe history of mathematics, mathematicians, mathematics teachersAbstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the faculty members’ and the middle school mathematics teachers’ perspectives regarding the use of the history of mathematics in the learning-teaching process of mathematics. As a phenomenological study, the qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 27 middle school mathematics teachers and seven faculty members and then, subjected to the content analysis. The findings revealed that both teachers and faculty members believed that using the history of mathematics is a worthwhile effort, with the potential to not only provide meaningful learning opportunities for students but also enrich teachers’ professional development. However, it was also found that lack of historical perspective in the curriculum, teachers’ inadequate knowledge, time constraint, no room for the history of mathematics in the textbooks and exams, overloaded curriculum and students’ inadequate desire to learn were some of the reasons for rarely-use of the history of mathematics. Based on the overall findings of the study, it is concluded that teacher education (both pre-service and inservice), the structure of mathematics curriculum, teachers’ and students’ characteristics were the most important dynamics to integrate the history of mathematics into teaching effectively.Downloads
References
Abdulhay, Medine. Söndürülen ışık: İskenderiyeli Hypatia. Retrieved from http://www.bilim.org/sondurulen-isik-iskenderiyeli-hypatia, 2014.
Alpaslan, Mustafa. Prospective elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge of history of mathematics and their attitudes and beliefs towards the use of history of mathematics in mathematics education, Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 2011.
Altun, Murat. Eğitim fakülteleri ve sınıf öğretmenleri için matematik öğretimi. Bursa: Alfa Basım Yayım, 2008.
Awosanya, Ayokunle. Using history in the teaching of mathematics, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. The Florida State University, Florida, 2001.
Baki, Adnan. Matematik tarihi ve felsefesi. Ankara: Pegem Akademi, 2014.
Baki, Adnan and Yıldız, Cemalettin. Use of the history of mathematics in textbooks and teacher views [Paper presentation]. Second International Congress of Educational Research, Antalya, 2010. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324877640_USE_OF_THE_HISTORY_OF_MATHEMATICS_IN_TEXTBOOKS_AND_TEACHER_VIEWS
Baki, Adnan and Yıldız, Cemalettin. “Teachers’ views about factors which affect history of mathematics usage in lessons.” Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Kırşehir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 17 (2) (2016): 451-472.
Başıbüyük, Kani and Şahin, Ömer. “Mathematics teachers’ opinion about the history of mathematics.” Acta Didactica Napocensia, 12 (2) (2019): 117-132.
Bell, John, Gregory. A history of mathematics class for middle school teachers, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Illinois State University, Normal, 1992.
Bidwell, James K. “Humanize your classroom with the history of mathematics”. The Mathematics Teacher, 86 (6) (1993): 461-464.
Burton, David, M. The history of mathematics: An introduction. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Cajori, Florian. A history of mathematics (D. İlalan, Trans.). ODTÜ Yayıncılık, Ankara 2014 (Original work published 1919).
Clark, Kathy, Kjeldsen, Tinne, Schorcht, Sebastian, Tzanakis, Constantinos & Wang, Xiaoqin. “History of mathematics in mathematics education. Recent developments” [Paper presentation]. History and Pedagogy of Mathematics, Montpellier, France, Jul 2016. Retrieved from https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01349230/document
Creswell, John W. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2013.
Dejic, Mirko, & Mihajlovic, Aleksandra, M. “History of mathematics and teaching mathematics.” Teaching Innovations, 27 (3) (2014): 15-30.
Demir, Remzi. “Salih Zeki Bey’in Journal Asiatique’de yayımlanan Notation Algebrique Chez Les Orientaux adlı makalesi”. Ankara Üniversitesi Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi Dergisi, 15, (2004): 333-353.
Dickey, Gregory, Patrick. A historical approach to teaching the British Columbia mathematics eight course, Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Simon Fraser University, Canada, 2001.
Ding, Jiutao. Integration of mathematics history and mathematics education [Paper presentation]. 5th International Conference on Education Technology, Management and Humanities Science, China, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.webofproceedings.org/proceedings_series/ESSP/ETMHS%202019/ETMHS19166.pdf
Ersoy, Ezgi. “Effect of using history of mathematics on elementary 4th grade students”. İlköğretim Online, 15 (2) (2015): 408-420.
Eves, Howard. An introduction to the history of mathematics. San Francisco, CA: Saunders, 1990.
Fauvel, John. & Van Maanen, Jan. (Eds.). History in mathematics education-The ICMI study. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2002.
Fried, Michael, N. “Can mathematics education and history of mathematics coexist?” Science & Education, 10 (4) (2001): 391-408.
Furinghetti, Fulvia. “History of mathematics, mathematics education, school practice: Case studies in linking different domains” For the Learning of Mathematics, 17 (1) (1997): 55-61.
Guillemette, David. “History of mathematics in secondary school teachers’ training: Towards a nonviolent mathematics education”. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 96 (3) (2017): 349-365.
Haile, Tesfayohannes, Kiflemariam. A study on the use of history in middle school mathematics: The case of connected mathematics curriculum, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. The University of Texas, Austin, 2008.
Hatisaru, Vesife and Erbaş, Ayhan, Kürşat. History of mathematics in mathematics education: The views of Turkish Portuguese, Spanish and French mathematics teachers [Paper presentation]. X. National Congress of Science and Mathematics Education, Niğde University, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.pegem.net/akademi/kongrebildiri_ detay.aspx?id=135883
Hattatoğlu, Mehmet. Matematik öğrenmenin zamanı gelmedi mi? 2010. Retrieved from http://www.matematik-fen-dersi.com/2010/09/mehmet-hattatoglu/
Ho, Weng Kin. Using history of mathematics in the teaching and learning of mathematics in Singapore. [Paper presentation]. 1st RICE, Singapore, 2008. Retrieved from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi= 10.1.1.459.5255&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Işık Ahmet, Çiltaş, Alper, and Bekdemir, Mehmet. “The importance and necessity of mathematics education”. Journal of Kazım Karabekir Education Faculty, 17, (2008): 174-184.
Jankvist, Uffe, Thomas. “A categorization of the “whys” and “hows” of using history in mathematics education”. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 71 (3) (2009): 235-261.
Karakurumer, Güler. Matematik ve toplum. 2003. Retrieved from http://www.matder.org.tr/matematik-ve-toplum/
Katz, Victor, J. A history of mathematics: An introduction. NY: Harper Collins, 1993.
Kaye, Ella. “The aims of and responses to a history of mathematics video conferencing project for schools.” In M. Joubert (Ed.), Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, 28 (3), (2008) (pp.66-71).
Kjeldsen, Tinne, Hoff. “Does History have a Significant Role to Play for the Learning of Mathematics? Multiple perspective approach to history, and the learning of meta level rules of mathematical discourse.” In E. Barbin, M. Kronfellner, & C. Tzanakis (Eds.), History and Epistemology in Mathematics Education: Proceedings of the 6th European Summer University (pp. 51-61). Verlag Holzhausen GmbH, 2011.
LeCompte, Margaret, Diane, Judith, Preissle, & Renata, Tesch. Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research. San Diego: Academic Press, 1993.
Lim, Siew, Yee & Chapman, Elaine S. “Effects of using history as a tool to teach mathematics on students’ attitudes, anxiety, motivation and achievement in grade 11 classrooms”. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 90, (2015): 189-212.
Lincoln, Yvonna S. and Guba, Egon G. Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1985.
Liu, Po-Hung. “Do teachers need to incorporate the history of mathematics in their teaching?” The Mathematics Teacher, 96 (6) (2003): 416-421.
Miles, Matthew B. and Huberman, Michael A. Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc, 1994.
Nataraj, Mala, Saraswathy and Thomas, Michael O. J. “Developing understanding of number system structure from the history of mathematics”. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 21 (2), (2009): 96-115.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM]. Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000.
Niitsuma, Sho, and Nagaoka, Ryosuke. History of mathematics and mathematics education-A reflective study on the possibility of History of mathematics to be implemented as teaching material in upper secondary level [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference, Herceg Novi, Montenegro 2014. Retrieved from https://directorymathsed.net/montenegro/Nitsuma.pdf
Ojose, Bobby. “Mathematics literacy: Are we able to put the mathematics we learn into everyday use?” Journal of Mathematics Education, 4 (1), (2011): 89-100.
Otte, Michael. “Mathematical history, philosophy and education.” Educational Studies in Mathematics, 66(2) 2007: 243-255.
Panasuk, Regina M. and Horton, Leslie Bolinger. “Integrating history of mathematics into curriculum: What are the chances and constraints?” International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 7(1) (2012): 3-20.
Panasuk, Regina M. and Horton, Leslie Bolinger. “Integrating history of mathematics into the classroom: Was Aristotle wrong?” Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 2 (2) (2013): 37.
Patton, Michael, Quinn. Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2015.
Pengelley, David, J. A graduate course on the role of history in teaching mathematics [Paper presentation]. Study the Masters: The Abel Fauvel Conference, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, 2002. Retrieved from https://web.nmsu.edu/~davidp/gradcourserolehist.pdf
Pepe, Luigi, and Guerraggio, Angelo. “Why do we need the history of mathematical teaching?” Lettera Matematica, 5 (3) (2017): 245-251.
Radford, Luis. History of mathematics and mathematics education. In M. N. Fried & T. Dreyfus (Eds.), Mathematics & Mathematics Education: Searching for Common Ground (pp. 89-110). New York: Springer, 2014.
Rickey, Fred. My favorite ways of using history in teaching calculus. In F. Swetz, J. Fauvel, O. Bekken, B. Johansson & V. Katz (Eds.), Learn from the Masters (pp.123-134). The Mathematical Association of America. Washington, 1995.
Rizki, Lussy, Midani, and Priatna, Nanang. “Mathematical literacy as the 21st century skill”. IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1157 (2019), 2019: 2-5. Retrieved from https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1157/4/042088/pdf
Sertöz, Sinan. Matematiğin aydınlık dünyası. Ankara: Tubitak Popüler Bilim Kitapları, 2011.
Shenton, Andrew. K. Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22 2004: 63-75.
Siu, Man-Keung. Proof and pedagogy in ancient China: Examples from Liu Hui’s commentary on Jiu Zhang Suan Shu. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 24(4) (1993): 345-357.
Siu, Man-Keung. No, I don’t use history of mathematics in my class. Why? In F. Furinghetti, S. Kaijser, & C. Tzanakis (Eds.), Proceedings HPM2004 & ESU4 (pp. 268-277). Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, 2007.
Sözen, Sinem. A phenomenogical study on incorporating the history of mathematics into teaching from the perspective of primary and mathematics teachers, Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 2013.
Steen, Lynn, Arthur. Mathematics and democracy: The case for quantitative literacy. Princeton, NJ: National Council on Education and the Disciplines, 2001.
Sullivan, Kelly, Marie. Pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ attitudes about the history of mathematics, Unpublished Master’s Thesis. California State University, Fresno, 1985.
Tan-Şişman, Gülçin and Kirez, Büşra. “History of mathematics in the Turkish middle school mathematics curriculum and textbooks.” Cukurova University Faculty of Education Journal, 47 (1), (2018): 188-215.
Tekin, Birol, and Tekin, Seher. Matematik öğretmen adaylarının matematiksel okuryazarlık düzeyleri üzerine bir araştırma. 2004. Retrieved from http://www.matder.org.tr/matematik-ogretmen-adaylarinin-matematiksel-okuryazarlik-duzeyleri-uzerine-bir-arastirma/
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]. PISA 2021 mathematics framework (Second draft) 2003. Retrieved from https://pisa2021-maths.oecd.org/files/PISA%202021%20Mathematics%20Framework%20 Draft.pdf
Tokay, Ebru. The effect of the use of the history of mathematics on the academic achievement of the 4th class students in the teaching of numbers and operations with some geometric concepts, Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Karaman, 2019.
Tong, Duong, Huu, Loc, Nguyen, Phu, Uyen, Bui, Phuong and Thi, Y., Tran. “Integrating the history of mathematics into mathematics education: A case study of teaching the quadratic equations.” Universal Journal of Educational Research, 7 (11) 2019: 2455-2462.
Topdemir, Hüseyin, Gazi. Galileo ve doğanın matematikle kavranışı. Bilim Teknik Dergisi, 526, (2011): 104-107.
Tözluyurt, Emine. The perceptions of senior high students regarding the lessons, in which activities chosen from history of mathematics are used on the subject of numbers learning area, Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Gazi University, Ankara, 2008.
Tzanakis, Constantinos, Arcavi, Abraham, de Sa, Carlos, Correia, Isoda, Masami , Lit, Chi-Kai, . . . Siu, Man-Keung. Integrating history of mathematics in the classroom: An analytic survey. In J. Fauvel & J. Van Maanen (eds.), History in Mathematics Education (pp.201–240). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
Ulusoy, Fadime, and Girit-Yıldız, Dilek. “The changing perceptions of prospective middle school mathematics teachers on their own knowledge of history of mathematics: The role of pedagogical experiences”. Kastamonu Education Journal, 27 (6), (2019): 2730-2746.
Wilson, Patricia, S. and Chauvot, Jennifer B. “Who? How? What? A strategy for using history to teach mathematics.” Mathematics Teacher, 93(8) (2000): 642-645.
Yee, Lim, Siew and Chapman, Elaine. “Using history to enhance student learning and attitudes in Singapore mathematics classrooms.” Education Research and Perspectives, 37, (2011): 110-132.
Yevdokimov, Oleksiy. (2007). Using the history of mathematics for mentoring gifted students: Notes for teachers. Proceedings of the 21st biennial conference of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, Hobart, 2007 (pp.267-275). Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.555.8330&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Yıldırım, Ali and Şimşek, Hasan. Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri. Ankara: Seçkin Yayınevi, 2013.
Yüksel, Pelin and Yıldırım, Soner. Theoretical frameworks, methods, and procedures for conducting phenomenological studies in educational settings. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 6 (1) (2015): 1-20.
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Psycho-Educational Research Reviews
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
