PROCEEDINGS OF THE 17TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2014
Denver, Colorado
Prospective Secondary Teachers’ Conceptions of Proof and Interpretations of Arguments
Page: 56
We analyzed the interviews of three prospective secondary mathematics teachers to examine their conceptions of proof and how they validated arguments in the context of students’ answers. Our participants had differing views of the definition of proof and its role in mathematics, and they operationalized their conceptions of proof through differing emphases on generality, logical structure, and form or appearance of arguments. Their work when validating arguments in large part aligned with their professed views of proof, with some deviations on the part of one participant. Further research must examine whether this consistency is prevalent across prospective teachers and how this relates to teachers’ work with proof in classrooms.