Introduction

Advocates of incorporating the history of mathematics in teaching mathematics do so believing that providing a human element may spark student interest in mathematics. Incorporating biographical sketches or historical anecdotes into instruction has the potential to enhance student interest, with the hope that interested students will learn more readily and retain the content longer. The learning value of the historical activities can be enhanced when explored and presented by the student rather than presented to the student by the instructor or textbook. An effective way to have your students deepen their knowledge of mathematics through its history is to have them do the historical research and presentations. A student-centered approach to introducing history in a wide variety of undergraduate mathematics courses is an effective teaching tool, in large part because most students like doing the presentations [1].

Invite your students to share in the joy of discovering the “who” and the “why” of the mathematics they are learning, and to take an active role in making the connections between the mathematics they are learning and its historical origins. Student-researched historical presentations can be done in any course, at any level, and require relatively minimal preparation by the instructor. How much time you allow for student presentations in class is up to you. You may limit students to 5 minutes, or require longer presentations. We provide ideas for different approaches to the historical presentations your students can do based on what has worked for us. One approach is general and easy to implement; the other requires more planning on the part of the instructor.