The presence of the History of Mathematics in the development of Right Triangle Trigonometry in High School Mathematics textbooks

Abstract

D’Ambrosio (1996) points out that the History of Mathematics is an area that can bring many contributions to the Mathematics teaching The aim of this research was to analyze if and how the History of Mathematics is presented in high school Mathematics textbooks related to the “Right Triangle Trigonometry”. As theoretical reference we rely on the vulgata phenomena (CHERVEL, 1990) and on the possible pedagogical uses of the History of Mathematics. As a tool for analysis, we used the documentary research described in Gil (2002) in a sample of three High School Mathematics books collections, in quantitative and qualitative ways. As categories of qualitative analysis, we adapted Vianna’s (1995 apud BIANCHI, 2006) considerations regarding the uses of the History of Mathematics as motivation, information, didactic strategy and subject development. We observed that these categories were found in the textbooks and that they bring contributions, but they must be complemented by an adequate mediation by the Mathematics teacher.