Conjuntos Numéricos em Quadrinhos: Uma abordagem da História da Matemática na Educação Básica

Abstract

Just as knowing the story behind current events is important for understanding the world in which we live, using facts from the history of mathematics to understand the development of this discipline itself is essential for understanding that mathematics is the result of human evolution and that is has contributed, in a direct and indirect way, to its construction. Given that many studies have shown that there has been little use of historical aspects and facts of mathematics in the school environment, the present investigation takes a qualitative approach to exploring aspects of the History of Mathematics that have contributed to the formation of number sets (natural, integer, rational, irrational, and real numbers), through the use of cartoons. We used a system of emergent categories to analyze and validate the data, which were obtained using a research diary, the application of structured activities with a historical perspective, and questionnaires. The investigation was carried out in a public state school in the city of João Pessoa, PB (Brazil) in two classes of the first year of high school. The results showed that exploring facts from the history of mathematics to explain mathematical content promoted a better understanding of concepts, definitions, and properties among the students. The analysis also shows that the use of cartoons increased students’ interest in mathematics and facilitated their understanding of the material covered.