Kidwell (curator, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institute), Ackerberg-Hastings (history, U. of Maryland), and Roberts (developmental mathematics, Prince George's Community College) write on the physical tools of teaching mathematics in American from 1800-2000. The tools studied are presented in thematic sections of tools for presentation and general pedagogy, tools of calculation, tools of measurement and representation, and electric technology and mathematical learning. As much as an examination of the instruments of teaching this book also explores the progression of the pedagogy of the subject and the history of educational reform and technological innovation. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
From the blackboard to the graphing calculator, the tools developed to teach mathematics in America have a rich history shaped by educational reform, technological innovation, and spirited entrepreneurship.
In Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, 1800--2000, Peggy Aldrich Kidwell, Amy Ackerberg-Hastings, and David Lindsay Roberts present the first systematic historical study of the objects used in the American mathematics classroom. They discuss broad tools of presentation and pedagogy (not only blackboards and textbooks, but early twentieth-century standardized tests, teaching machines, and the overhead projector), tools for calculation, and tools for representation and measurement. Engaging and accessible, this volume tells the stories of how specific objects such as protractors, geometric models, slide rules, electronic calculators, and computers came to be used in classrooms, and how some disappeared.