Social networking and gaming define the millennial student. Historical components allow

students to view mathematics in a human context they comprehend, rather than seeing it

as a series of abstract equations on the blackboard. This presentation will showcase how

history of mathematics projects were infused into the syllabus of several mathematics

courses using web 2.0 technology. This innovative collaboration between a mathematics

instructor and reference/instruction librarian utilizes course blogs and gaming scenarios

to incorporate history of mathematics and information literacy as an integral and

assessable component of calculus and general education mathematics courses.

The presenters will demonstrate how they implemented several course blogs and

document how students benefited and enjoyed these asynchronous, active learning

assignments. Instances of positive student interaction and presentation techniques beyond

the typical written paper will be highlighted. They will show how using a social

networking modality that students are familiar with enhanced the syllabus along with the

gaming environment provided a venue for additional discussion of everyone's work, and

laid the foundation for research skills in higher level mathematics courses.