PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A case study of developing self-efficacy in writing proof frameworks
Page: 542
This case study documents the progression of one non-traditional individual’s proof-writing through a semester. We analyzed the videotapes of this individual’s one-on-one sessions working through our course notes for an inquiry-based transition-to-proof course. Our theoretical perspective informed our work with this individual and included the view that proof construction is a sequence of (mental, as well as physical) actions. It also included the use of proof frameworks as a means of initiating a written proof. This individual’s early reluctance to use proof frameworks, after an initial introduction to them, was documented, as well as her later acceptance of, and proficiency with, them. By the end of the first semester, she had developed considerable facility with both the formal-rhetorical and problem-centered parts of proofs and a sense of self-efficacy.