Historical Modules for the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

Book excerpt: Contains 11 modules consist of a number of activities designed to demonstrate the use of the history of mathematics in the teaching of mathematics. Objectives of the Modules: To enable students to develop a much richer understanding of mathematics and its applications by viewing the same phenomena from multiple mathematical perspectives; To enable students to understand the historical background and connections among historical ideas leading to the development of mathematics; To enable students to see how mathematical concepts evolved over periods of time; To provide students with opportunities to apply their knowledge of mathematics to various concrete situations and problems in a historical context; To develop in students an appreciation of the history connected with the development of different mathematical concepts; To enable students to recognize and use connections among mathematical ideas; To enable students to understand how mathematical ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce a coherent whole; To lead students to recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics.--Publisher.