PROCEEDINGS OF THE 16TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2013
Denver, Colorado
Verifying Trigonometric Identities: Proof and Students’ Perceptions of Equality
Page: 2-689
This preliminary study explores how students’ perceptions of the equality of trigonometric expressions evolve during the process of verifying trigonometric identities (VTI). If students already view the purported equality as being true, VTI may not offer much in the way of learning experiences for students. Using a semiotic perspective to analyze student work, this study attempts to describe the evolution of students’ perceptions of identities upon application of VTI, focusing on the components of the student’s VTI process that contribute to the evolution. Initial analyses of interviews conducted while students proved identities indicate that students are not fully convinced that the identities are initially true. However, successful VTI, signaled, for example, by the use of an idiosyncratic equality construction, endows equality on not only the purported identity but on ancillary equality statements generated as part of the VTI process.