Abstract
This nationwide survey (n = 4,663) was conducted to explore the relationship
between teachers’ images of mathematics and their mathematics history knowledge. Most
respondents believed mathematics is connected to the real world, makes a unique
contribution to human knowledge, can be done by everyone, and is fun and thoughtprovoking.
The median score on the mathematics history test was 37.5%. Mathematics history
knowledge scores were related to teachers’ views on mathematics. Teachers with high
history scores were more likely to believe that investigating is more important than
knowing facts and that mathematics is ongoing and shows cultural differences. On the
other hand, teachers with low history scores were more likely to believe that mathematics
is a disjointed collection of facts, rules and skills
