Opportunities of learning through the history of mathematics: the example of national textbooks in Cyprus and Greece

Citation

Xenofontos C & Papadopoulos C (2015) Opportunities of learning through the history of mathematics: the example of national textbooks in Cyprus and Greece. International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning, 16. http://www.cimt.org.uk/journal/xenofontos.pdf

Abstract
In this paper, we examine the ways the history of mathematics is integrated in the national textbooks of Cyprus and Greece. Our data-driven analyses suggest that the references identified can be clustered in four categories: (a) biographical references about mathematicians or historical references regarding the origins of a mathematical concept (b) references to the history of a mathematical method or formula containing a solution or proof, (c) mathematical tasks of purely cognitive elements that require a solution, explanation or proof and (d) tasks that encourage discussion or the production of a project that would connect the history of mathematics with life outside mathematics. Furthermore, we employed a framework around the levels of cognitive demands derived from the literature to analyse the identified mathematical tasks.

Keywords
history of mathematics; textbooks; Cyprus; Greece

Journal
International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning: Volume 16

People

Dr Constantinos Xenofontos

Lecturer, Education