DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS: THE USE OF NEWTON’S METHODUS FLUXIONUM ET SERIERUM INFINITARUM IN AN EDUCATION CONTEXT
Journal Title: Problems of Education in the 21st Century - Year 2015, Vol 65, Issue 6
Abstract
What is the possible use of history of mathematics for mathematics education? History of mathematics can play an important role in a didactical context, but a general theory of its use cannot be constructed. Rather a series of cases, in which the resort to history is useful to clarify mathematical concepts and procedures, can be shown. A signifcant example concerns differential calculus: Newton’s Methodus fluxionum et serierum infnitarum is a possible access-key to differential calculus. For, many concepts introduced by Newton ought be useful for the pupils/students (last or last but one year at the high school and frst year at the university) to reach a more intuitive, geometrical and problem-oriented approach to calculus. The motivation to consider history of mathematics as an important didactical support is that the pupils/students often learn mathematics in a too formal manner, without understanding the real reasons for the introduction of several mathematical concepts. The problem is that the potential of such support is not exploited. The educational proposal is hence to show a concrete case to highlight what the teaching of mathematics based on history means. The conclusion is that a general theory, as differential calculus, should be considered by the pupils/students as a necessity, deriving from a specifcation, improvement and extension of the techniques used to solve signifcant problems posed and developed in the course of history. In this manner, mathematics appears as a human activity comparable with other activities and not as a merely formal exercise.
Authors and Affiliations
Paolo Bussotti
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP35388
- DOI -
- Views 370
- Downloads 0
WHO STRIVES AND WHO GIVES UP? THE ROLE OF SOCIAL COMPARISON DISTANCE AND ACHIEVEMENT GOALS ON STUDENTS’ LEARNING INVESTMENT
The current survey tests the effects of social comparison distance on investment in learning. The social comparison is known to have two directions: upward and downward. It is hypothesized that, apart from these two di...
InternatIonal projects „arIse“ and „IQst“ for ImproVIng QualIty of scIence teachIng
An international cooperation is undoubtedly an important issue. Science is science and it has an international character. Moreover, such cooperation is crucially important for scientists from former Soviet Union countrie...
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE VERSUS HUMAN TALENTS IN LEARNING PROCESS
To highlight the differences between conventional educational systems and CBLS - computer based learning systems. It is useful to consider CBLS, as the class of a system most closely related to artificial intelligence...
TEACHERS MOTIVATION TOWARDS ASSESSMENT OF THEIR PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCES
A relevant feld of research in teacher’s professional competence assessment is taking the factor of motivation into account, as this enables teachers to differentiate between, i. e. to be aware of the signifcance of the...
THE MODEL-CONSTRUCT OF AN INTERACTIVE MODULAR TEXTBOOK (TRAINING PROFILE “ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS”)
The object of this study is educational literature, which forms the profile of a graduate (bachelors program focusing on the “Advertising and PR”). The subject are the principles and methods of organization of educationa...