The Use of the History of Mathematics in the Teaching of Preservice Teachers

Abstract

Many scholars have written about using the history of mathematics in the teaching of preservice mathematics teachers. For this study, preservice mathematics teachers developed an electronic journal of reflections based on presentations in the history of mathematics in a secondary mathematics education course. The main purpose of the Mathematics History Journal was to help measure the mathematics content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of the preservice mathematics teachers for accreditation purposes. Results of the study indicated that by allowing preservice teachers to investigate and present topics in the history of mathematics, preservice teachers believed they strengthened their mathematics content knowledge and were introduced to a new avenue for teaching secondary students about mathematics.Keywords: History, Preservice Teachers, Secondary Mathematics, Teacher Knowledge