Recortes históricos para o estudo de números complexos no ensino médio

Abstract

This research investigates the use of the History of Mathematics as a didactic resource for teaching complex numbers, aiming to understand how this approach can favor the construction of meaningful learning in high school. It starts from the recognition that complex numbers are often perceived by students as an abstract and decontextualized content, which makes their understanding difficult and demotivates learning. The introduction of historical elements, in this scenario, emerges as a didactic strategy capable of humanizing mathematical knowledge, arousing students' curiosity, interest, and critical understanding. Through qualitative research, of the bibliographic and historicaldocumentary type, our general objective was to investigate the potentialities of using the history of Mathematics as a methodological resource in the construction of a didactic proposal for teaching complex numbers. Our main theoretical contributions were: Miguel (1997), D’Ambrósio (1999), and Oliveira (2017). We found that it is possible to construct the intended pedagogical didactic proposal when we bring the history of mathematics through the life stories of mathematicians involved with the development of complex numbers, a timeline on the development of the content, problems involving the mathematics of other times, and historical artifacts through images of old books