You are here

Hands on History

Amy Shell-Gellasch, editor


Ebook Version FREE to MAA Members

This MAA Notes volume is free to MAA members as part of your Member Only eBook Library. You must log in on the MAA website to access the free Member Only eBook Library. Click on the LOGIN button at the top of the page and log in using your user name and password. The Member Library is located in the left-hand column under My Profile.


Hands on History is a compilation of articles from researchers and educators who use the history of mathematics to facilitate active learning in the classroom. The contributions range from simple devices such as the rectangular protractor that can be made in a geometry classroom, to elaborate models of descriptive geometry that can be used as a major project in a college mathematics course. Other chapters contain detailed descriptions on how to build and use historical models in the high school or collegiate mathematics classroom. Some of the items included in this volume are: sundials, planimeters, Napier’s Bones, linkages, cycloid clock, a labyrinth, and an apparatus that demonstrates the brachistocrone in the classroom.

Research shows that students learn best when, as opposed to imply listening or reading, they actively participate in their learning. In particular, hands-on activities provide the greatest opportunities for gaining understanding and promoting retention. Apart from simple manipulatives, the mathematics classroom offers a few options or hands-on activities. However, the history of mathematics offers many ways to incorporate hands-on learning into the mathematics classroom. Prior to computer modeling, many aspects of mathematics and its applications were explored and realized through mechanical models and devices. By bringing this material culture of mathematics into the classroom, students can experience historical applications and uses of mathematics in a setting rich in discovery and intellectual interest.

Whether replicas of historical devices or models used to represent a topic from the history of mathematics, using models of a historical nature allows students to combine three important areas of their education: mathematics and mathematical reasoning; mechanical and spatial reasoning and manipulation; and evaluation of historical versus contemporary mathematical techniques.

Electronic ISBN: 9780883859766

  PDF Price    
Hands on History $31.50    
         

 

View Cart

 

Book Series: