Challenges to Teaching Authentic Mathematical Proof in School Mathematics
Date
2009
Authors
Cirillo, Michelle
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Department of Mathematics, National Taiwan Normal University
Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
As pointed out by Stylianides (2007), a major reason that proof and proving have
been given increased attention in recent years is because they are fundamental to
doing and knowing mathematics and communicating mathematical knowledge.
Thus, there has been a call over the last two decades to bring the experiences of
students in school mathematics closer to the work of practicing mathematicians.
In this paper, I discuss the challenges that a beginning teacher faced as he
attempted to teach authentic mathematical proof. More specifically, I argue that
his past experiences with proof and the curriculum materials made available to
him were obstacles to enacting a practice that was more like what he called “real
math.”
Description
Keywords
Mathematics -- Curricula. , Mathematics -- Study and teaching. , Mathematics Education. , Proof theory -- Study and teaching.
Citation
Cirillo, M. (2009). Challenges to teaching authentic mathematical proof in school mathematics. In F. –L. Lin, J,-H Feng, G. Hanna & M. de Villiers (Eds.), Proof and Proving in Mathematics Education: ICMI Study 19 Conference Proceedings, (Vol. 1, pp. 130-135). Taipei, Taiwan: National Taiwan Normal University.