MM859: History of Mathematics

Study Board of Science

Teaching language: English
EKA: N310065102
Assessment: Second examiner: External
Grading: 7-point grading scale
Offered in: Odense
Offered in: Autumn
Level: Master

STADS ID (UVA): N310065101
ECTS value: 5

Date of Approval: 13-04-2023


Duration: 1 semester

Version: Archive

Entry requirements

The course cannot be chosen by students, who have passed MM822 (UVA 310003101).

Academic preconditions

Students taking the course are expected to have knowledge of basic concepts within core areas of mathematics such as elementary geometry and concepts such as continuity, limit, differentiability, infinite series from mathematical analysis.

Furthermore it presupposes that the student is able to by him/herself read mathematical texts at BA-level.

Course introduction

The aim of the course is 
  • To give students an overview of the history of mathematics from ancient civilizations to the 20th century. The overview helps students to achieve comprehensive understanding on how mathematic knowledge has been produced over time and in various cultures and how mathematics has been developed to one of disciplines and professions in modern society. 
  • To facilitate students to deepen understanding on mathematical thinking, historical facts, and related contextual knowlege through times. This also encourages students to use history of mathematics as a resource and method to enrich teaching practice in history of mathematics, mathematics, and other science disciplines in Danish high schools. 
The course builds on knowledge acquired in the Bachelor in Mathematics, in particular the basic courses (calculus, algebra, mathematical analysis, and mathematical methods) placed in the first year, that are also part of the minor in mathematics. The course gives the prerequisites to write a master thesis in the history of mathematics. Together with e.g. NAT805, it provides students with the skills to prepare material and methods for teaching history of mathematics, mathematics, and science in Danish high schools.

In relation to the competence profile of the degree it is the explicit focus of the course to: 
  • Provide knowledge of the development of mathematics through times.
  • Give the competence to use history as methods and produce materials for teaching courses on history of mathematics, mathematics, and science in Danish high schools. 

Expected learning outcome

The learning objectives of the course are that the student demonstrates the ability to: 

  • Place a piece of mathematics in an internal and external historical context
  • Present certain methods that were used by previous mathematicians 
  • Analyze and present historical source material
  • Apply historical source and methods in current teaching practice 

Content

The following main topics are contained in the course: Mathematics in Early Civilisation, Greek Mathematics, Numbers and Equations, Pre-History of Analysis, Discovery of Calculus, Mathematics Analysis (18th-19th Century), Non-Euclidean Geometry, and Mathematics in 20th Century. Methods of using history in mathematics education will be also involved in  in relation to different themes in lectures. 

Literature

See itslearning for syllabus lists and additional literature references.

Examination regulations

Exam element a)

Timing

January

Tests

Oral exam

EKA

N310065102

Assessment

Second examiner: External

Grading

7-point grading scale

Identification

Student Identification Card

Language

Normally, the same as teaching language

Examination aids

No aids are allowed

ECTS value

5

Indicative number of lessons

38 hours per semester

Teaching Method

At the faculty of science, teaching is organized after the three-phase model (i.e., intro, training, and study phase). In order to enable students to achieve the learning objectives for the course, there is a total number of 64 hours on a semester. Different teaching activities are reflected in an estimated allocation of the workload of an average student as follows: 

  •  Intro Phase (Lectures): 20 Hours 
  • Training Phase (Student Exercise): 18 Hours 

The Intro mainly focuses on lectures with different themes shown in Content; the Training Phase focuses on student exercises including reading after lectures, discussions, and group work. The Study Phase focuses on reading before lectures, preparing for weekly exercises individually or in groups, and preparing for examination. Additionally, student projects are assigned to groups or individuals that are allocated in Training Phase and Study Phase.

Teacher responsible

Name E-mail Department
Chunfang Zhou chzh@sdu.dk LSUL

Timetable

Administrative Unit

Institut for Matematik og Datalogi (matematik)

Team at Educational Law & Registration

NAT

Offered in

Odense

Recommended course of study

Profile Education Semester Offer period

Transition rules

Transitional arrangements describe how a course replaces another course when changes are made to the course of study. 
If a transitional arrangement has been made for a course, it will be stated in the list. 
See transitional arrangements for all courses at the Faculty of Science.