Recency Bias in the Era of Big Data: The Need to Strengthen the Status of History of Mathematics in Nigerian Schools

TL;DR

This paper discusses how recency bias, amplified by Big Data, threatens the inclusion of historical mathematics content in Nigerian education, urging a reevaluation of curriculum and teaching practices.

Contribution

It highlights the impact of recency bias on mathematics education and advocates for strengthening the role of history of mathematics in Nigerian schools.

Findings

Recency bias leads to neglect of historical mathematical content.

Big Data exacerbates the challenge of selecting relevant curriculum content.

Recommendations for curriculum development and teacher training are proposed.

Abstract

The amount of information available to the mathematics teacher is so enormous that the selection of desirable content is gradually becoming a huge task in itself. With respect to the inclusion of elements of history of mathematics in mathematics instruction, the era of Big Data introduces a high likelihood of Recency Bias, a hitherto unconnected challenge for stakeholders in mathematics education. This tendency to choose recent information at the expense of relevant older, composite, historical facts stands to defeat the aims and objectives of the epistemological and cultural approach to mathematics instructional delivery. This study is a didactic discourse with focus on this threat to the history and pedagogy of mathematics, particularly as it affects mathematics education in Nigeria. The implications for mathematics curriculum developers, teacher-training programmes, teacher lesson preparation, and publication of mathematics instructional materials were also deeply considered.