História da Matemática e quadrinhos: as ideias de infinitésimos desenvolvidas por Zenão, Eudoxo e Arquimedes

Abstract

This research intends to consider, in the History of Mathematics, a theme to be developed in the production of Comics, commonly used in basic education, as a tool for introducing content, knowledge building or awakening in students the interest in mathematics teaching. Composed of textual and illustrative content, the Comic Book is favorable in the teaching process according to available studies. In this sense, as this use is acceptable to this public and obtaining positive results, why not consider it as a tool in higher education, in addition to the traditional teaching approach? In this context, this research proposes to use Comics, as a didactic and complementary resource for teaching mathematics, an interface between mathematics and teaching, specifically aimed at higher education. We sought to enable the understanding of the History of Mathematics and the contents related to Differential and Integral Calculus (DIC), in particular the concept of infinitesimals, by the subjects involved in this research, by means of the production of strips, carried out by these students after the meetings and workshop. The general objective of the research is to verify how Comics can contribute to the understanding of the infinitesimal concept from the ideas of Zeno, Eudoxus and Archimedes, relevant mathematicians to this science and little disseminated in the History of Mathematics textbooks. In order to facilitate this research development, a qualitative approach was used. For the analysis and validation process of the data obtained from the subjects involved, undergraduate students of the Degree in Mathematics at the Universidade Regional do Cariri (URCA), whose campus is located in the municipality of Juazeiro do Norte/CE, a correlation was fulfilled, therefore, between the questionnaire applied in this research and the respective productions, referring to the strip genre. Taking into account the obtained results, a different perspective was observed by the subjects involved regarding mathematics when integrated into Comics. The results strengthen the statement that the history of a certain content, aided with the comic strip, can be used before starting with the definitions and examples, awakening, thus, curiosity and interest in details in higher education students as well as in basic education ones. Finally, comic strip should be included in the development of mathematics teaching.