PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Students’ formalization of pre-packaged informal arguments
Page: 1119
We gave pairs of students enrolled in a graduate analysis class tasks in which they were provided with a video taped informal argument for why a result held and asked to produce a rigorous proof of this result. This provided a lens into students’ formalization process and the various roles these informal arguments played in each pair’s proving process. Comparing across several pairs of participants revealed 3 distinct roles informal arguments can play in proving, 1) solely as a starting point, 2) as a reference that can be continually returned to during the proving process, and 3) as a convincing argument that does not inform the proving process.