Mathematical concepts in the numerical graduation of John Napier’s Chessboard instrument based on a university practice

Abstract

Based on the demand for different methodological strategies and greater qualification of teachers,
university practices have been increasingly sought after as an alternative for teacher training and practice in the university context. In view of this, we conducted a mini-course aimed at undergraduates of the Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Brazil, dealing with the manipulation of the John Napier’s Chess Board and supported by a strand that aims to build an interface between history of mathematics and teaching through a historical resource aligned with pedagogical actions. With this, based on a descriptive applied research methodology, we seek with this study to present and analyze the data obtained in practice regarding the mathematical concepts found in the process of construction of the seventeenth century mathematical instrument, John Napier’s Chess Board, and, from that, to discuss its possible insertion in mathematics teaching. Thus, we consider that this practice contributed effectively to the participants and teachers, providing debates that showed a new look at Mathematics and the object of research, in addition, we concluded that the instrument presents different concepts, mathematical and historical, which can be discussed in different ways, collaborating for teaching action and mathematical learning.