About

MAA Convergence is the Mathematical Association of America’s refereed online journal about the history of mathematics and its use in teaching. Articles in Convergence address how the historical topics they discuss have been—or could be—employed in a mathematics classroom. Aimed at mathematics instructors at both the secondary and collegiate levels, MAA Convergence includes topics from grades 8–16 mathematics (with special emphasis on topics from grades 8–14): algebra, combinatorics, synthetic and analytic geometry, trigonometry, probability and statistics, elementary functions, calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra.

Article Types

The journal’s main article types are Classroom Resources. These may include—but are not limited to:

- guided readings of primary sources
- self-contained classroom lessons
- exercises from historical treatises or textbooks
- pedagogical explorations inspired by or related to historical material
- approaches to mathematical concepts that provide an alternative to standard textbooks
- course outlines
- classroom discussion prompts
- suggestions for student research projects
- uses of primary sources in the classroom
- discussions of practices and philosophies involved in incorporating history into pedagogy

Article Submission Types

Submissions of the following article types are also considered:

- Classroom Capsules, short articles similar to Classroom Resources but which offer briefer and more focused, classroom enhancements or teaching moments;
- Mathematical Treasures, pictorial articles featuring images of rare, significant, or unusual books in the history of mathematics as well as other artifacts, with some descriptive and explanatory text— in your submission, please select Pictorial Work as the article type and Mathematical Treasures as the section heading;
- Reports, descriptions, and observations from authors’ implementations into a mathematics classroom of historical material from one of the journal’s published articles or from the wider literature;
- Expository Articles, which explain, describe, and provide factual information about the history of mathematics and its use in teaching mathematics, and whose classroom connections may not be as explicitly discussed as those in Classroom Resources;
- Research Articles, presenting original primary-source research in support of the teaching of mathematics through the history of mathematics;
- Article Series, compilations of separately published materials that are organized by a unifying theme in the history or pedagogy of mathematics;
- Essays, short analyses, specifically those that address reasons for or approaches to using the history of mathematics to teach mathematics;
- Interviews, transcribed or recorded conversations with scholars who have used the history of mathematics to teach mathematics;
- Orations, reproductions of speeches, or oral presentations on the use of the history of mathematics in the teaching of mathematics.

If you are unsure about the article type for your manuscript submission, please contact the editors at convergence@maa.org. 

The journal encourages submissions from all backgrounds, regardless of career stage, geography, or other defining characteristics. MAA Convergence aims to be a truly inclusive journal.

Article types and descriptions are used with permission from Taylor and Francis.

Click for more information about how to format your articles to submit to MAA Convergence and how to submit your submissions today!

Information for Referees

Click to read through the MAA Convergence guide for referees.

History and Past Editors

MAA Convergence was founded in 2004 by Victor J. Katz of the University of the District of Columbia and Frank J. Swetz of Pennsylvania State University, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Katz and Swetz edited it for over five years.

Using MAA Convergence in the Classroom

Although the realm of possible classroom connections is infinite, the list in the link below offers several of the most common ways in which MAA Convergence articles bring together the history of mathematics and the teaching of mathematics, along with examples of how these connections were realized in existing publications. 

Reprint Permission