21 - Teachers' Conceptions of History of Mathematics

Summary

Introduction

Many researchers are convinced that history of mathematics merits a more important role in mathematics education than it currently occupies. To achieve that goal, more knowledge on teachers' conceptions of history of mathematics is needed.

In this paper, I will describe an interview study on Norwegian teachers' conceptions of the history of mathematics. After giving some background, I will describe the method used before discussing the main findings of the study. These findings provide insights that should be taken into account in further attempts to get more teachers to include history of mathematics in their teaching.

Background—Norway

Curriculum: In the Norwegian curriculum for primary and lower secondary schools of 1997, the history of mathematics had a prominent place. One of the six main goals of mathematics was “for pupils to develop insight into the history of mathematics and into its role in culture and science” [13]. In addition, the history of mathematics was mentioned in specific goals for several grades.

Textbooks: In Smestad [27] the textbooks for the new curriculum were analyzed. There was not much content involving the history of mathematics in the textbooks. The texts were not relevant to stimulate pupils' inquiring. In addition, a number of errors were found. The texts mostly consisted of dull, biographical information (such as year of birth and country of origin) and they rarely touched upon the development of concepts, mathematicians' motivations for working on mathematics or how mathematics has been used throughout history.