PROCEEDINGS OF THE 21ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2018
San Diego, California
Curricular Presentation of Static and Process-Oriented Views of Proof to Pre-service Elementary Teachers
Page: 1286
Engaging students in proof-related reasoning is an important but often challenging task for pre-service elementary teachers. Given that limited mathematics content courses and their associated textbooks offer some of the only opportunities for preservice elementary teachers to engage with proof, it is vital to understand what opportunities they offer to understand proof. I conducted an analysis of two textbooks used for elementary mathematics content courses to investigate the view(s) of proof promoted within and the opportunities to learn about proof-related reasoning. My findings suggest a mixed emphasis on static and dynamic views of proof and proving, but also many opportunities for instructors of mathematics content courses to promote an explanatory, process-oriented view of proof.