COMPOUND INTEREST IN HISTORICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE WORK OF JOÃO HENRIQUE DE SOUZA (1759) AND THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SPREADSHEETS IN EDUCATION
History of Mathematics, Digital Technologies, Financial Education, Interest Rates.
This research proposes to establish a link between the History of Mathematics (HM) and Digital Technologies (DT), associated with Financial Education, especially the concept of Compound Interest in contemporary society. Based on this, we sought to develop and apply a Didactic Sequence (DS) grounded in this articulation at the Joaquim da Luz State School, located in Espírito Santo (RN). The HM aspect contributed by attributing meaning to the critical study of Interest, using a historical work from 18th-century Portugal by João Henrique de Souza (1759) called *Práticas do Comércio ou Lições da Aula do Comércio*, which addressed a lesson focused on the concept of Interest at that time. The DT area allowed the use of resources such as the Padlet platform, Google Classroom, and spreadsheets. Regarding the area of Financial Education, we sought to articulate the aforementioned areas in an attempt to develop a critical understanding of Compound Interest in contemporary society. Our objective was to investigate how the articulation between the History of Mathematics, based on the analysis of an 18th-century historical work, and the use of spreadsheets can contribute to a critical understanding of the concept of compound interest by high school students, given the gaps identified in the literature on Financial Education. Therefore, the learning sequence was divided into five stages, respectively called: problematization stage, research and analysis stage, practical application stage, critical discussion stage, and evaluation stage. Thus, even amidst challenges and difficulties regarding the arduous task of establishing this articulation, we observed potential contributions to the teaching-learning process in Mathematics. We observed greater participation, motivation, interaction, engagement, and critical understanding of interest.