PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2012
Portland, Oregon
Embodiment of Struggle in Research Mathematicians: The Case of Proximal Inhibition
Page: 2-177
It’s often considered desirable for students to develop ways of engaging with mathematics that mimic the thinking styles of mathematicians. However, there have been very few ethnographic studies of mathematicians to explore how they actually practice mathematical research. This study involves an embodied phenomenological analysis of videos of pairs of mathematicians working together on a current problem in their field. I outline one resulting embodiment of their struggles with the material, which I term “proximal inhibition.” The value and implications of this contribution are discussed briefly at the end.