1998/01/01 by Bonnie Shulman · 1 citation
Mathematics · Social Sciences · #History and Theory of Mathematics #Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques #Statistics Education and Methodologies #Treasure #Mathematics education #Context (archaeology) #Class (philosophy) #Ethnomathematics #Simple (philosophy) #Reform mathematics #Teaching method #Math wars #Connected Mathematics #Mathematics #Computer science #Epistemology #Artificial intelligence
paper · doi:10.1080/10511979808965879
openalex publication_date 1998/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
There is a growing trend in mathematics education to use history and original sources to motivate students to learn content. An added benefit of using these sources is that it allows instructors to integrate a humanistic understanding of mathematics into a mathematics class by embedding the content within its motivating social context. This article describes how a simple question led to a fascinating quest through primary sources. Once collected, these sources proved to be a treasure trove of material illuminating mathematics and mathematicians in historical context.