Opportunities of learning through the history of mathematics: the example of national textbooks in Cyprus and Greece

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the ways the history of mathematics is integrated in the national textbooks of Cyprus and Greece. Our data-driven analyses suggest that the references identified can be clustered in four categories: (a) biographical references about mathematicians or historical references regarding the origins of a mathematical concept (b) references to the history of a mathematical method or formula containing a solution or proof, (c) mathematical tasks of purely cognitive elements that require a solution, explanation or proof and (d) tasks that encourage discussion or the production of a project that would connect the history of mathematics with life outside mathematics. Furthermore, we employed a framework around the levels of cognitive demands derived from the literature to analyse the identified mathematical tasks.