Use of mathematical problems rooted in primary historical sources to reveal preservice teachers’ mathematical content knowledge

Abstract

In this paper, the use of mathematical problems rooted in primary historical sources as a diagnostic tool for identifying learners’ understanding about area and volume is examined. The study follows preservice teachers in the context of a compulsory course in mathematics education while dealing with such problems embedding errors and challenging mistaken beliefs about the area of quadrilaterals and the volume of the cube. Although the initial aim was to involve the participants in inquiry-based activities, in the end, the history of mathematics served as a means to reveal the complete or partial understanding of the concepts making evident at the same time the participants’ misconceptions such as the overgeneralization of the rule ‘length times breadth’ and the confusion between area and perimeter concerning the area of the quadrilaterals task, and the illusion of linearity and the confusion between volume and surface area concerning the volume of the cube task.