Comparison between a Modern-Day Multiplication Method and Two Historical Ones by Trainee Teachers

María José Madrid, Alexander Maz-Machado, Fernando Almaraz-Menéndez and Carmen León-Mantero
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María José Madrid: Faculty of Education, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Alexander Maz-Machado: Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Education, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Cordoba, Spain
Fernando Almaraz-Menéndez: Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Carmen León-Mantero: Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Education, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Cordoba, Spain

Mathematics, 2021, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Different studies consider the possibility of including history of mathematics in the classroom. However, its inclusion in the teaching and learning of mathematics depends on the conceptions of it that teachers have, among other factors. This study displays a comparative analysis between the opinions of primary education teachers-to-be and the opinions of mathematics teachers-to-be at secondary school and A-levels after the realization of an activity related to two historical or unusual multiplication methods. These trainee teachers were asked to identify the differences between these methods and the multiplication algorithm usually used in Spain. We collected these data and conducted an exploratory, descriptive and qualitative study. In order to analyse the information obtained, we used the technique content analysis. The answers given by these trainee teachers show their lack of knowledge about other multiplication methods and the various differences which they observed. These differences are mainly related to the structure of each method, the procedure and application of these methods and the mathematical processes carried out for each method. The comparison between the opinions of the teachers-to-be at different levels shows similarities but also some differences, probably due to the different mathematical knowledge they have.

Keywords: history of mathematics; teacher training; multiplication methods; didactics of mathematics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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