RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
“I” Find it Difficult Because...: Identifying What Features Students Report as Affecting Difficulty to Understand a Proof
Page: 1072
The student perspective provides valuable information into what students find to be difficult when reading proof. Such information can be used to productively support students as they face these difficulties. In this preliminary report, we investigate what students report as contributing factors of how difficult a proof is to understand. For this report, we focus on data regarding two proofs from the introduction to proof setting. Our findings indicate that the density and width of a proof are key contributors towards the difficulty rating given to the proofs.