PROCEEDINGS OF THE 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2017
San Diego, California
Interpretive reading of mathematical propositions for proving: A case study of a mathematician modeling reading to students during joint proof production
Page: 1700
Successful proof production in advanced mathematics relies on meaningful apprehension ofthe to-be-proved proposition, yet we know that this is a challenge for many students. Thisstudy examines the ways in which a mathematician-instructor, addressing this issue, modelsthe practice of interpretive reading of mathematical propositions to a pair of students in thecontext of joint proof-production in a Real Analysis course. Taking a social practiceperspective on reading and adopting Sfard’s commognitive framework as a theoretical lens, Iidentify three aspects of the discursive work the expert engages with to demonstrateprocesses of active meaning-making to students: (1) re-reading of text with grammaticalshifts, (2) posing comprehension monitoring questions, and (3) narrative enactment of text