Prior to our discussion in lecture yesterday I had never considered the history of word problems. In my mind, word problems were a modern invention, contrived to give a semi-realistic example of mathematics in use, and also test students written comprehension skills. To think of them as an ancient craft is indeed interesting!
I really loved this idea about Babylonian word problems being “l’art pour l’art”. It wasn’t that these were practical, but they simply wrote them because they could. As someone who has shied away from applied math their whole life, this really resonated with me. For me, the spirit of math is exploring ideas just because we can. It’s having the privilege to think about things we are curious about, even if they’re not applicable. It’s kind of heartwarming to think that even so long ago there were practicing the same thing, and it makes me feel more connected to the past. I think a way to incorporate this into my teaching practice would be to take historical word problems and present them to the students when relevant. I think it would be so cool to teach an area problem for instance from thousands of years ago!
I also thought it was really funny that there are word problems in circulation today that are similar in function and dressing to those of the past. It’s funny to me because today’s students do not like word problems. I wonder how students of the past felt about them? Did they also ask their teachers how was this relevant? How realistic is it that Bob actually bought 56 watermelons? I really wonder if there was this pushback like there is today, or if the students recognized the fruitfulness of calculating something just because you can. The teacher that I volunteered with had a wonderful activity where the students had to write their own word problems. I thought this was fun because the students got to see how difficult it is to write a good word problem, but it also gave them the opportunity to write something practical and realistic. This is an activity that I would like to share with my future students.
Your reflection is engaging and heartfelt. I appreciate how you connected the idea of Babylonian word problems as “art for art’s sake” to your own philosophy of mathematics, valuing curiosity and exploration for their own sake. Your plan to use historical word problems and the activity of having students create their own problems shows a thoughtful way to bring history and creativity into teaching.
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