Math with Matthew
April, 2017 www.mathwithmatthew.com
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Tracing the History of Math
Teach Like This!
Ms. Wise, a 9th grade algebra teacher, regularly shares a historical perspective on which mathematician or culture developed the concepts students are learning. When teaching a new concept, she explains the methods and approaches historical mathematicians used to solve the problems. For example, the Babylonians were responsible for first developing the “completing the square” method to solve quadratic equations. Their approach is similar to the process taught in modern classrooms, but based on conceptual understanding as opposed to the memorization of the steps.
Ms. Wise also shows students how it took many mathematicians a significant amount of time to develop the formulas and equations that they are attributed with creating. Through the process, most mathematicians made mistakes, and so students learn that mistakes are part of learning and creating mathematics. Also, students struggle to find an immediate solution when solving problems, but many mathematicians took many years to solve a single problem. This shows students that math is not about speed but rather devotion and perseverance.
In addition to increasing student interest in learning math, providing a deeper understanding of how the concepts were developed and who was responsible for them also gives teachers added content knowledge. Explaining and showing how the Babylonians and Greeks worked to get more precise values of pi over time only gives Ms. Wise additional credibility as a master of her content.
Incorporating the history of math also allows for an obvious interdisciplinary approach to teaching. As we move from a STEM philosophy to a STEAM philosophy (including the arts), the history of math shows us a very obvious relationship between music and mathematics, in particular with Pythagoras, as well as between art and mathematics, such as in geometry. There are many ways to incorporate the history of math into your classroom.
Excerpt of Teach Math Like This, Not Like That: Four Critical Areas to Improve Student Learning available Summer, 2017.
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Dr. Matthew Beyranevand is a mathematics education teacher, coordinator, professor, and coach who helps teachers and districts increase students’ engagement in mathematics while improving student learning and achievement. Through professional development, as well as analysis of school mathematics documents, Dr. Beyranevand is able to help teachers and schools with their mathematics curriculum, instruction, assessments, and vision. |
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Joyful Math Night. Matthew is helping sponsor a "Joyful Math Night" at a Lowell Spinners game on June 24th. We will have baseball statistics bingo with prizes and between inning events related to making math fun and engaging. Would love any of my local friends to come and join. Email me for tickets, if interested.
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Podcast Episodes. Matthew has podcast episodes on important topics within math education. You can listen to them on his website or through Soundcloud. Guests have included James Tanton, Jon Star, Dan Meyer, Sunil Singh, and more. Recent episodes have been released from the SXSWedu conference on PBS NOVA, Blended Learning, and Using Space to Improve Math Learning.
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Global Math Meet Up In San Antonio. In April, Matthew will be travelling to San Antonio for the NCSM / NCTM Annual Conference. Matthew was a recipient of the Iris Carl Travel Grant to attend and will be presenting on “Solving the Same Problem Multiple Ways: Building Conceptual Understanding” Thursday, April 6th at 8:00 a.m. Also, there will be a Global Math Project event Wednesday evening that is open to everyone!
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