Transforming undergraduate mathematics instruction via primary historical sources

What is it about?

The TRIUMPHS (TRansforming Instruction in Undergraduate Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources) project is a multi-year collaboration funded by the US National Science Foundation. Its aim is to improve instruction in undergraduate mathematics by developing high-quality curricular resources known as Primary Source Projects that place students in direct contact with the writings of the historical individuals who created and shaped the mathematics they are expected to learn. Using data collected from over 100 site testers of these materials, this article employs an implementation-related research lens to explore the factors that influence adoption of innovative curricular materials such as these by university and college mathematics faculty. We consider in particular two extreme cases of adoption—instructors who have thus far limited their use of Primary Source Projects to a single course and instructors for whom Primary Source Project usage has permeated their instructional practice—as a means to gain insight into the factors that influence the nature and depth of future uses of the innovation for various profiles of (potential) adopters.

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