A volume in Research in Mathematics Education Series Editor Barbara J.
Dougherty, University of Mississippi This volume investigates the
evolution of the geometry curriculum in the United States over the past
150 years. A primary goal is to increase awareness of the nature of the
current geometry curriculum by investigating the historical,
mathematical and pedagogical influences that it has sustained since its
inception. Given the limited access to first-hand accounts of the
enacted geometry curriculum during the past 150 years, the book relies
on textbooks to provide a record of the implemented curriculum at any
given point in time and on policy documents and journal articles to
provide insight into the prevalent issues and arguments of the day. The
book is organized in a chronological sequence of "notable events"
leading to discernable changes in thinking about the geometry curriculum
over the past century and a half-roughly the extent of time during which
geometry has been taught in American schools. Notable events include
important reports or commissions, influential texts, new schools of
thought, and developments in learning technologies. These events
affected, among other things: content and aims of the geometry
curriculum; the nature of mathematical activity as construed by both
mathematicians and mathematics educators; and, the resources students
are given for engaging in mathematical activity. Before embarking
through the notable events, it is necessary to consider the "big bang"
of geometry, namely the moment in time that shaped the future life of
the geometry curriculum. This corresponds to the emergence of Euclidean
geometry. Given its influence on the shape of the geometry curriculum,
familiarity with the nature of the geometry articulated in Euclid's
Elements is essential to understanding the many tensions that surround
the school geometry curriculum. Several themes emerge over the course of
the monograph, and include: the aims and means of the geometry
curriculum, the importance of proof in geometry, the role of
visualization and tactile experiences, the fusion between solid and
plane geometry, the curricular connections between geometry and algebra,
and the use of motion and continuity. The intended audience would
include curriculum developers, researchers, teachers, and curriculum
supervisors.
