Teaching and Learning Proof Across the Grades: A K-16 Perspective [Hardcover]

A Co-Publication of Routledge for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

In recent years there has been increased interest in the nature and role of proof in mathematics education; with many mathematics educators advocating that proof should be a central part of the mathematics education of students at all grade levels. This important new collection provides that much-needed forum for mathematics educators to articulate a connected K-16 story of proof. Such a story includes understanding how the forms of proof, including the nature of argumentation and justification as well as what counts as proof, evolve chronologically and cognitively and how curricula and instruction can support the development of students understanding of proof. Collectively these essays inform educators and researchers at different grade levels about the teaching and learning of proof at each level and, thus, help advance the design of further empirical and theoretical work in this area. By building and extending on existing research and by allowing a variety of voices from the field to be heard, Teaching and Learning Proof Across the Grades not only highlights the main ideas that have recently emerged on proof research, but also defines an agenda for future study.

Series Editor's Foreword: The Soul of Mathematics, Alan H. Schoenfeld

Preface

List of Contributors

Introduction

Section I: Theoretical Considerations on the Teaching and Learning of Proof

1. What I Would Like My Students to Already Know About Proof, Reuben Hersh

2. Exploring Relationships Between Disciplinary Knowledge and School Mathematics: Implications For Understanding the Place of Reasoning Andl3‘