Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Kottke, Christopher

Area of Concentration

Mathematics

Abstract

This thesis addresses two problems. The first is the general lack of knowledge about the background stories of prominent mathematicians. Undergraduate mathematical instruction offers little, if any, information about the personal histories of the people who developed the material being studied. I believe learning these life stories will add depth to students' understanding of mathematical concepts by learning how the ideas developed. To address this, I will study the lives of mathematicians and the role of collaboration among them and will present the material in a tutorial. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the tutorial will be determined, in part, by student feedback. The second problem deals with the pedagogy of instruction. My teaching experience stems from 13 years as a classroom teacher in a magnet public high school. As I teach the tutorial, I will adjust the curriculum and pedagogy for an undergraduate setting and track changes as the class structure evolves.

Download

Share

COinS