The role of the History of Mathematics in Teaching, as recorded via questionnaire
The role played by the History of Mathematics in the teaching process will be discussed in detail in our paper. Here we shall note only one parameter, that of cultural comprehension. The introduction of the History of Mathematics invites us to place the development of Mathematics in the scientific and technological context of a specific period in the history of ideas and societies, and to consider the history of the teaching of Mathematics from points of view outside the established boundaries between sciences. The incorporation of the History of Mathematics in school Mathematics is an excellent way to demonstrate, among other things, the links between the various fields of Mathematics and also between Mathematics and other scientific fields
In this paper, we shall treat the use of the History of Mathematics in promoting abilities concerning Mathematics as well as other school disciplines. This will be achieved with the aid of a questionnaire for students to fill in, preceded, a month earlier, by a relevant reference in class to issues concerning the History of Mathematics. This questionnaire is a means by which to check which ideas about the nature and development of Mathematics have been assimilated by students, and at the same time to make them reflect on various interesting aspects of Mathematics.
The questionnaire is addressed to 45 students in the 3rd year Upper Secondary school of the Pilot l Lyceum of Heraklion, Crete, who are taking the science and technology course, i.e. students who intend to study subjects directly related to the sciences. The Mathematics and Physics material they have been taught to date means that they understand concepts such as infinity, limits, differential or integral calculus, etc.
The chronological range of the questions will cover the period from the Egyptians up to and including the 19th century.
The questions will be open and closed, controlling both the knowledge and the assimilation of basic historical information on the development of Mathematics, from its origins to the present day. Our aim is also to investigate to what extent the students can date the birth of the most important mathematical concepts, and the students’ understanding of their chronological course and gradual development from early basic concepts to complex theories.