University of Isfahan Mathematics and Society 2345-6493 4 2 2019 08 23 How high school mathematics teachers use the history of functions into their teaching How high school mathematics teachers use the history of functions into their teaching 57 66 24411 10.22108/msci.2020.118430.1333 FA Abolfazl Rafiepour Department of Mathematics, Education Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Maryam Mohseni Kerman - Zarand - Zarand Education Department Journal Article 2019 07 27 The concept of a function is one of the fundamental concepts in school mathematics, serving as a unifying idea throughout mathematics. Functions are the primary tools for describing the real world in mathematical language. Almost all students who go through units of mathematics in their academic curriculum become familiar with the concept of a function. However, various research studies indicate that many students have a weak understanding of the concept of a function. The main objective of this article is to depict the historical development of the concept of a function over time and then examine how a group of mathematics teachers in Kerman province teaches it. In other words, this article seeks to address the question of how high school mathematics teachers teach the concept of a function and whether their teaching approach aligns with any historical perspective. The participants in this study are 20 high school mathematics teachers in Kerman province who were selected purposively. The results obtained from classroom observations showed that the participating teachers mostly did not incorporate the historical development and formation of the concept of a function into their teaching. They typically began teaching functions with a formal definition and after presenting a few examples, enumerated the properties of functions. Additionally, the analysis of the study's data indicated that the concept of a function was presented based on the latest recognized representation of functions, namely based on the correspondence approach between sets (ordered pairs). The concept of a function is one of the fundamental concepts in school mathematics, serving as a unifying idea throughout mathematics. Functions are the primary tools for describing the real world in mathematical language. Almost all students who go through units of mathematics in their academic curriculum become familiar with the concept of a function. However, various research studies indicate that many students have a weak understanding of the concept of a function. The main objective of this article is to depict the historical development of the concept of a function over time and then examine how a group of mathematics teachers in Kerman province teaches it. In other words, this article seeks to address the question of how high school mathematics teachers teach the concept of a function and whether their teaching approach aligns with any historical perspective. The participants in this study are 20 high school mathematics teachers in Kerman province who were selected purposively. The results obtained from classroom observations showed that the participating teachers mostly did not incorporate the historical development and formation of the concept of a function into their teaching. They typically began teaching functions with a formal definition and after presenting a few examples, enumerated the properties of functions. Additionally, the analysis of the study's data indicated that the concept of a function was presented based on the latest recognized representation of functions, namely based on the correspondence approach between sets (ordered pairs). https://math-sci.ui.ac.ir/article_24411_9e751e2f18404a6ee7f19e187a837b2c.pdf