Abstract

The article presents the results of a doctoral research whose objective was to characterize how the History of Mathematics has been addressed in the national exams that assess the Mathematics course, the Exame Nacional de Cursos (ENC), better known as Provão, and the Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes (Enade). For this, we considered all editions of these exams in which the Mathematics course was evaluated until 2021, comprising the following years: Provão – 1998; 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002 and 2003, and Enade – 2005; 2008; 2011; 2014; 2017 and 2021. The methodological framework used in the work was the analysis of qualitative structuring content, from which we established three categories of analyses according to what was expected to be mobilized by the students about historical knowledge in the resolution of the questions, and a fourth category, that emerged from the analyses. In all, 29 questions were selected: 13 in the category Constitution of the problem, 5 in the category Motivational use, 6 in the category Didactic Resource, and 5 in the category Historical potential. In general, the History of Mathematics in Provão and Enade has mainly evaluated the capacity of students to apply formulas and methods, being listed only as specific content for the Degree. We could notice, in the last editions of Enade, an approach directed to meeting what is expected that a student in the initial training knows of the History of Mathematics, and how to incorporate it in the classroom.

History in Mathematics Education; History of Mathematics in the Initial Training of Mathematics Teachers; Higher Education Assessment; National Course Exam (Provão); National Student Performance Exam (Enade)