High School Students' Understanding of Proof

Autor/inn/en	Derrick, Josephine; Cavey, Laurie
Titel	High School Students' Understanding of Proof
Quelle	In: Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 114 (2021) 3, S.212-218 (7 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0025-5769
Schlagwörter	Mathematics Instruction; Mathematical Logic; Validity; High School Students; Secondary School Mathematics; Concept Formation; Comprehension; Student Attitudes; Beliefs; Persuasive Discourse + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Mathematical logics; Mathematische Logik; Gültigkeit; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Verstehen; Verständnis; Schülerverhalten; Belief; Glaube; Persuasion; Persuasive Kommunikation
Abstract	Proof generally has a bad reputation among students, especially at the high school level. In fact, when the first author initially mentioned to her students that she would like to interview them about proof, many reacted with fear. Further, classroom experiences and existing research (Stylianou, Blanton, and Rotou 2015) suggest that undergraduate students, including mathematics majors, are unprepared for proof in college. These observations motivated the authors to explore more of the long history of research on student understanding of proof (cf. Crowley 1987; Knuth, Choppin, and Bieda 2009; Stylianides 2007; van Hiele 1985). In particular, Soucy McCrone and Martin (2009) report on a series of studies on students' perceptions of proof. They found that when students compared two given arguments, students agreed that the formal proof would receive a better grade but that an example-based argument would be more convincing to a friend. In addition, some students indicated that the purpose of writing a proof was to show their understanding of a mathematical topic. Reading about how students make decisions about what counts as proof was a primary motivator for this project. The intent was to examine students' perceptions of proof, including what should be considered a proof and the role that examples play in proof. To do this, the authors compiled four tasks with which 10 students were interviewed in two high school mathematics courses. Insights gleaned during these one-on-one interviews led to a few instructional takeaways for teachers. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 800-235-7566; Tel: 703-620-9840; Fax: 703-476-2570; e-mail: nctm@nctm.org; Web site: https://pubs.nctm.org/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01