RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
An Argument for Teaching Logic With Euler Diagrams Instead of Truth Tables
Page: 885
This theoretical report integrates insights from various lines of research to posit an argument that early logic instruction for proof-based mathematics should use set-based conditions for the truth of conditional statements rather than the widely used truth table definition. We claim the truth table definition poses unnecessary barriers for students, in part because it does not adequately express mathematical practice. In contrast, the set-based meaning seems highly productive and may better support students in reasoning about conditionals as objects, which our experiments suggest is a highly propitious development for learners