History Across the Mathematics Curriculum for Preservice Teachers

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There is a broad endorsement among educators that pre-service teachers benefit greatly from being taught some history of mathematics. Publications of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), the Mathematics Association of America (MAA), and the International Committee on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) have included recommendations for the incorporation of history into the mathematics curriculum, especially for pre-service teachers. Through workshops and other direct dissemination of ideas and material, this proof of concept project educates faculty on ways to integrate historical content into mathematics courses and provides resources to do this.To improve the preparation of mathematics teachers by emphasizing historical development of mathematical ideas, the project is producing a textbook supplement consisting of resources for higher education faculty to use to integrate history of mathematics into courses taken by pre-service mathematics teachers. This includes teachers at both the elementary and secondary levels. The supplement includes many exercises that give students opportunities to experience the mathematics of a given period and culture. The activities are designed to prepare and empower future teachers to teach children about the important and exciting role that mathematics has played throughout history. Students are gaining an increased understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of mathematics, since many developments have been historically motivated by problems arising in other disciplines. Institutions are also being aided since this material helps make it possible to inject history across the mathematics curriculum. Technology has an increasingly important role to play in mathematics education, and provides computational and visual tools that can be used to deconstruct and reconstruct historical results and arguments. Many of the resources developed involve the use of technological tools such as Geometer's Sketchpad, Excel worksheets, and computer algebra systems.