Leah Yates Duke University Master of Arts in Teaching

Analysis of History of Mathematics

I am currently taking History of Mathematics as an independent study with two of the other MAT students. Each of us has been assigned some specific area of mathematics and expected to research that area. Then, once a week, we met as a group to discuss what of each of us has learned during the past week. My area is History of Number Theory.

This course is really helpful especially for a high school teacher. Even though we’re not studying the history of mathematics as a whole, a lot of the research that we have done in our individual areas has overlapped. During my internship, students would often ask about the history of the math. Of course they wouldn’t ask for the actual history, but frequently asked questions such as “where did this come from?” or “who came up with calculus?” It was definitely helpful to have some knowledge of the history of mathematics to aid me in answering their questions.

Not only do we study the history, but we also study the mathematics. Frequently, we have a brief discussion on history and then focus on some proof that one of us has brought in to study. Professor Hodel always asks questions beyond the proof to help us grow as “thinkers” of mathematics. This discussion time is definitely my favorite part and always makes me feel challenged.

Overall, I would highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to be a high school teacher. The independent study and discussion style of the course is very effective. I feel that I am much more interested in the course because I get to do my own research each week and then share my findings with others in the class.

 

 

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