Implementing History in Math

 

 

 To be honest, I did not like math when I was growing up. Growing up in Korea where good grades were the only and ultimate goal of learning, good math teachers were the ones who had the most efficient way to help the students to get good grades which often involved memorization and repetitive practice. I did manage to get good results in the tests and classes, but the dislike carried on even after I moved to Canada. One thing that changed my view of mathematics is when my grade 11 pre-calculus teacher told me a story of young Gauss who used arithmetic series to add all natural numbers from 1 to 100. I was not interested in the teacher’s other lessons, but I certainly enjoyed the story since I still remember years after. Even now, as a math tutor, I tell my students the story of Gauss every time I introduce them to arithmetic series which never fails to grab their attention and by the end of the story they have naturally acquired the technique of how to calculate arithmetic series without introducing them to a formula.

One of the possible counter arguments of implementing history into mathematics presented in the article is that the students are not interested in history which I disagree. If anything, most of the times, students are less interested in math than history. As mentioned in the article, students feel more motivated when they either have intrinsic motivation or see the use and need of the material that they are learning. Students who have intrinsic motivation will focus on the lesson regardless of how the teacher presents the material. While looking at the development of some mathematical principles which often were formulated out of need, students can come to recognize the practical use of the material.

Furthermore, implementing history can help the students to develop intrinsic motivation to learn if they did not previously possess them. Although math has a lot of practical use in diverse field, often times, it was developed through pure curiosity and fascination of the subject. When the teacher explains mathematical concept in a traditional way, the students without such motivation can easily lose focus. However, we know that they are more interested in a format of a story. That’s why books such as the “The Number Devil” was the best selling children’s book in many different countries (fun fact, “The Number Devil” has been a best selling book in Korea since more than a decade ago when I was still living there, and everyone’s at least heard about it). History can serve the same purpose as books. It can be told like a story which can be used to get students more interested in the subject.