PROCEEDINGS OF THE 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2017
San Diego, California
Pedagogical practices for fostering mathematical creativity in proof-based courses: Three case studies
Page: 1418
Some mathematics education publications highlight the importance of fostering students’ mathematical creativity in the undergraduate classroom. However, not many describe explicit instructional methodologies to accomplish this task. The authors attempted to address this gap using a formative assessment tool named the Creativity-in-Progress Rubric (CPR) on Proving. This tool was developed to encourage students to engage in practices that research studies, mathematicians, and students themselves suggest may promote creativity in processes of proving. Three instructors in different institutions used a variety of tasks, assignments, and in- class discussions in their proof-based courses centered around the CPR on Proving to explicitly discuss and foster mathematical creativity. These instructors’ actions are explored using Levenson’s four teacher roles of fostering mathematical creativity. In this report, preliminary results indicate that each of the three instructors assumed at least three of the four roles.