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About the Proof Project
The Proof Project investigates the development of students’ understanding of proof during the undergraduate experience. Proof, arguably, lies at the heart of mathematics; it pervades all mathematical work and sets mathematics apart from all other sciences. As such, it is necessary for all students to develop both the understanding of concepts related to proof and the skills to read and write proofs. The Proof Project aims to examine the ways in which undergraduate students acquire and develop their understandings of the concept of proof and to provide suggestions for the types of curricular and pedagogical innovations that can make the mathematics of proof accessible to all students.
The project has six main goals:
(a) identify characteristics of undergraduate students’ conceptions of mathematical proof, their attitudes and beliefs about proof, and their classroom experiences in constructing proofs ;
(b) develop a conceptual framework between the social and cognitive factors of learning how to construct mathematical proofs in undergraduate mathematics that includes the mediating role of psychological tools such as classroom discourse and symbolic and visual representations;
(c) examine how to restructure content, pedagogy, and assessment in the early mathematics course sequence so that opportunities for proof are fully integrated in viable and instructive ways;
(d) trace the effect of our innovations by examining undergraduate students’ capacity for proof in more advanced mathematics courses;
(e) conduct ongoing seminars with departmental math and math education faculty to understand (1) ways to integrate proof into early course work, (2) the curricular and pedagogical infrastructure that will support this and (3) the nature of faculty professional development; and
(f) coordinate a research collaborative with consultants, researchers and practicing teachers to share and expand an emerging knowledge base about a mathematical proof “story” at grades K-16.
These will be accomplished through four interrelated main components: