Using Historical Texts to Illuminate Middle School Mathematics
There is extensive research literature that proposes that incorporating the history of mathematics in teaching school mathematics has the potential to increase student engagement and learning in mathematics. After my previous experience with using history, in which I used historical problems to encourage my students to persevere in problem solving in geometry, I can attest that intentioned use of history of mathematics does contribute to student success in the classroom. With the support of this scholarship from the NCTM with an emphasis on the history of mathematics, I will now be able to research, design, and implement an extensive unit for use with students in learning fraction concepts, operations with fractions, and ratio and proportions. The unit will be developed with a focus on original sources in order to teach this important topic, and hopefully, will serve as a model for colleagues.