Teaching Mathematics through the Art of Kolam

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 422-428
Author(s):  
Syamala Chenulu

One goal of the NCTM's connections Standard is that mathematics instruction pre- K–12 should “enable all students to recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics” (NCTM 2000, p. 64). Art of all kinds provides opportunities to address this goal. Moreover, many mathematics educators, including myself, believe that it is important and beneficial to provide a multicultural perspective in our classrooms. “Knowledge of the ideas of others can enlarge our view of what is mathematical and, in particular, add a more humanistic and global perspective to the history of mathematics. This enlarged view, in which mathematical ideas are seen to play a vital role in diverse human endeavors, provides us with a richer and fuller picture of mathematics” (Ascher 2002, p. 200).

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Chinedu Victor Obasi

Mathematics is a human creation, which has been developing for more than four thousand years. It emerged as a response to different social and economic needs of civilizations. Historical development of mathematics stresses that mathematics as a science has always been connected to economic and social context and development of society. There is little or no research that promotes using historical content in mathematics lessons in the Nigeria context. In this paper, we model the use of history of mathematical thought (HMT) in mathematics instruction and solved the formulated model equation using integrating factor. The rate at which HMT is used by teachers in mathematics instruction is assumed to be proportional to the number of teachers that do not use HMT. The analysis suggests that with time, only a fraction of teachers can use HMT in teaching mathematics due to the fact that they will not remember to use it, and additional recruitment of teachers will result in only marginal improvement in the usage of HMT.


Author(s):  
Karolina Karpińska

This article is dedicated to discussing the implementation of the descriptive geometry, i.e. the scientific novelty from the end of the 18th century, in secondary school education on the Polish territories in the 19th century. At that time, Polish lands were under the occupation of three empires: Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Over the time, the policy of the partition empires toward the Poles was changing in intensity. As a consequence, in the 19th century, there were schools on the Polish territories with Polish, Prussian, Austrian and Russian curricula and relevant lecture languages. The article analyses the implementation of descriptive geometry into teaching mathematics in schools located in all three partitions. Keywords: descriptive geometry, history of mathematics education, history of mathematics


2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-422
Author(s):  
James Fey

For mathematics educators of a certain age or those with particular expertise in the history of mathematics education, the appearance of a book that purports to describe, analyze, and explain the “new math” movement of the 1950s and 1960s quite reasonably prompts the question: What else could possibly be said about that iconic era? Others with less experience in or historical knowledge of the field might pass on the book because they are only vaguely aware of the new math as a longago and thoroughly discredited effort to reform school mathematics curricula and teaching. However, I think mathematics educators in both groups–knowledgeable veterans and newcomers to the field–will find Christopher J. Phillips's retelling of the new math story a fascinating read that is filled with timeless insights into the academic and political dynamics of school mathematics and, more broadly, American education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
Krishna Kanta Parajuli

South Asian region has made a glorious history of mathematics. This area is considered as fer- tile land for the birth of pioneer mathematicians who developed various mathematical ideas and creations. Among them, three innovative personalities are Bhaskaracarya, Gopal Pande and Bharati Krishna Tirthaji and their specific methods to find cube root are mainly focused on this study. The article is trying to explore the comparative study among the procedures they adopt. Gopal Pande disagrees with the Bhaskaracarya's verse. He used the unitary method against that method mentioned in Bhaskaracarya's famous book Lilavati to prove his procedures. However, the Vedic method by Tirthaji was not influenced by the other two except for minor cases. In the case of practicality and simplicity, the Vedic method is more practical and simpler to understand for all mathematical learners and teachers in comparison to the other two methods.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097318492110645
Author(s):  
Dhruv Raina

The nineteenth century has been characterised as a period in which mathematics proper acquired a disciplinary and institutional autonomy. This article explores the intertwining of three intersecting worlds of the history of mathematics inasmuch as it engages with historicising the pursuit of novel mathematics, the history of disciplines and, more specifically, that of the British Indological writings on Indian mathematics, and finally, the history of mathematics education in nineteenth century India. But, more importantly, the article is concerned with a class of science and mathematics teaching problems that are taken up by researchers—in other words, science and mathematics teaching problems that lead to scientific and mathematical research. The article argues that over a period of 50 years, a network of scholars crystallised around a discussion on mathematics proper, the history of mathematics and education. This discussion spanned not just nineteenth-century England but India as well, involving scholars from both worlds. This network included Scottish mathematicians, East India Company officials and administrators who went on to constitute the first generation of British Indologists, a group of mathematicians in England referred to as the Analytics, and traditional Indian scholars and mathematics teachers. The focus will be on the concerns and genealogies of investigation that forged this network and sustained it for over half a century.


Author(s):  
Marguerite K. Miheso-O´Connor

Mathematics has been used by generations to make important decisions for a long period of time. History is littered with problem solving events which are results of mathematization of tasks based on available tools in any given generation. While History of mathematics focuses on what each culture contributed to present day conventional mathematics as taught in schools as a subject, Mathematics in a Historic environment focuses on identifying mathematical thinking that exists in all historical events. Historical events when enacted through the Time Travel approach learners get the opportunity to relive past events in the present context. Teaching mathematics in historic environment uses the time travel events that are practised by bridging ages international, to provide a reflective meaningful conceptualization of mathematics is a living subject. The strategy illuminates the centrality of mathematical thinking in all historical events. This paper shares findings from a study carried out on the effectiveness of this approach for teaching mathematics and provides an opportunity to discuss the approach as a viable pedagogic strategy that can be replicated across the curriculum.


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 728

The Historical Modules Project, a part of the Institute in the History of Mathematics and Its Use in Teaching (IHMT), is sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and supported by the National Science Foundation. In the project, eighteen high school teachers and six college teachers with experience in the history of mathematics have been working in six teams to develop modules for various topics in the secondary mathematics curriculum. These modules are intended to show teachers how to use the history of mathematics in teaching mathematics.


2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-10
Author(s):  
Jane M. Watson ◽  
Noleine E. Fitzallen ◽  
Karen G. Wilson ◽  
Julie F. Creed

The literature that is available on the topic of representations in mathematics is vast. One commonly discussed item is graphical representations. From the history of mathematics to modern uses of technology, a variety of graphical forms are available for middle school students to use to represent mathematical ideas. The ideas range from algebraic relationships to summaries of data sets. Traditionally, textbooks delineate the rules to be followed in creating conventional graphical forms, and software offers alternatives for attractive presentations. Is there anything new to introduce in the way of graphical representations for middle school students?


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