Matemáticas y criptografía: posibilidades y desafíos en el aula

Abstract

This research aims to demonstrate the potential of cryptography as an educational tool that fosters and promotes a contextualization of algebra, in addition to highlighting the importance of effective pedagogical support, understanding that we are social beings who construct knowledge in a community. Methodologically, four encryption methods were implemented for the proposal, based on a position of progressive advancement in their complexity. The ciphers we used were: one-to-one cipher, Caesar cipher, affine cipher, and Hill cipher. It should be noted that these methods were selected due to their practicality for discussing mathematical concepts such as functions, modular arithmetic, and linear transformations, providing a close and useful context, such as the protection of information in digital communications.