PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2019
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Empowering students in learning proof: Leveraging the instructor’s authority
Page: 52
When students are coming to understand how to construct proofs, as well as how mathematicians use proofs in their work, the role of the instructor cannot be overstated. In this paper, we present an investigation into how an instructor uses her authority to empower students as legitimate proof producers and learners of mathematics. We view this empowerment and student learning through a situated lens, accounting for relationships of disciplinary authority and student agency. In our investigation, we analyzed the transcripts from three classroom episodes in an inquiry-based transition-to-proofs course. We identified instances when the instructor leveraged her institutional authority as well as her mathematics expertise authority to support students’ engagement in the dance of agency, asserting their own creative ideas as learners of mathematics while still adhering to the norms and standards of the discipline.