Viewing basic math through the lens of history: Undergraduates’ reflective learning in a history-augmented mathematics classroom

Blown Away in the Wind of Change: Can Extinct School Folktales be awakened through Mathematics Storytelling in Nigerian Basic Education?

“…This possibility has been empirically attested to by Albool (2013), and many other researchers (e.g. Abah, 2017) who obtained research findings establishing that using storytelling strategy in teaching mathematics increased students' ability to solve higher order problems.…”

Returning Responsibility to the Home: Outcomes of Background Checks on Low and High Achievers in Middle Basic Mathematics in North Bank Suburb of Makurdi, Nigeria

“…The home can help pupils merge what they observe, discover and learn outside the classroom with the theoretical and abstract mathematics they learn in school. Such practical mathematics is readily available in the estimation of resources at home, the use of money for daily expenditure, available games in the community and even in the cultural practices of the society (Abah, 2017;Abah, 2016). Apart from normal activities in the home, parents and guardians can work with children's school teachers to facilitate their children's mathematics learning.…”

Design, Implementation and Assessment of a Web-Based Ethnomathematics Instructional Content Repository for Mathematics Teachers in Benue State, Nigeria

“…The usage of original ethnomathematical sources, for instance, has been shown to be effective in the teaching and learning of Mathematics (Guillemette, 2015). In a similar study, aimed at determining first year students' reflections when Fibonacci tiling, the ancient Chinese Fang Cheng procedures, and the ancient Indian meru prastara recursions were introduced as historical snippets in an adventure pedagogy for basic Mathematics, Abah (2017) reports that the artefacts aid in concretizing of concepts, spurring of behavioural engagement in learners, adding of aesthetic value to Mathematics, sustaining of students attention, computational ease and effective recall of mathematical procedures. In a related work exploring the cultural richness of a Christmas carol, Twelve Days of Christmas, Abah (2018a) demonstrates that when poetry-based artefacts are deployed in instructional contexts, they allow team building, aid recall, reinforce mathematical thinking process, connect history and the real world, and humanize Mathematics for all students.…”

“…Despite the prospects of culture-based instructional design and the enormous benefits accruable from optimal blends of culture and technology, there is a scarcity of research attempts on the ethnomathematical approach from within Nigeria. Phenomenal works such as Abah (2017), Iluno and Taylor (2013), Yusuf, Saidu, andHalliru (2010), though robust in the ethnomathematical sense, fell short of extending culture-based solutions to the cyberspace. Considering the fact that present-day students are a new genre of students with learning needs vastly different from their predecessors (Thomas, 2011) and live in a culture of learning, leisure and social interaction (Iji, Abah, & Anyor, 2017), current research efforts need to explore the intricacies of using technology to give voice to indigenous knowledge systems in Mathematics education.…”