Analysis of mathematics textbooks in El Salvador: a look at the use of the history of mathematics in official high school textbooks

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze and categorize the use of the history of mathematics in the official textbooks issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of El Salvador for the first and second year of high school in 2019. To achieve this purpose, qualitative and documentary research was established. For the analysis of the books, the research is made a horizontal and vertical analysis of each book, inspired by the methodological assumptions of Charalambous et al. and for the categorization of mathematical stories, the categories of stories in Vianna's didactic books are used. . The results show motivational use and complementary information in the didactic books analyzed, and a lack of knowledge of the didactic potentialities of the use of the history of mathematics. This may be due to a close position to the views of the Modern Mathematical Movement on the History of Mathematics and the central role of content in the curriculum development of school mathematics. It is expected in future studies to extend the analysis to the rest of the collection and to delve into the types of use of the history of mathematics.

Keywords

• educación matemática
• libros didácticos
• historia de la matemática
• el salvador