Mitchell Harper

Showing That You Know:

The Development of Mathematical Proof
Consciousness in the Context of Composition

Context
Undergraduate

math increases in

complexity
Variety of guidelines available
Little research focuses on proof as
rhetorical genre

Research Questions
What

comprises a well-written math

proof?
How do students conceptions of
math proof change as they progress
through their undergraduate studies?
What resources do students use in
order to better their proof writing
techniques?
What factors influence the
development of proof prose?

Survey Data
Proofs

more than just mathematical

equations
Intuitive, rigorous, and clearly
written
Each step a logical consequence
Annotations similar to essay
critiques

Student Interviews
Compared

to writing a science paper

Genre model distributed by TA
Comparison to trigonometry proofs
Influences include other genre
models

TA Interview
Math

134 Introduction to what

mathematicians really do
Hard to discern what makes a good
proof
Responsibility to learn the genre on
the student
Differences from standard
statements in the community

Conclusions
Logical

flow of statements a
necessity
Realization of use of complete
sentences
Perhaps there are no hard and fast
guidelines

Conclusions (ctd.)
Improper

indentification of audience
Interactions between professor, TA,
and text
Questions of whether this is the best
pedagogy

Further Research
Needed
How

does high school preparation

relate to undergraduate
performance?
How successful are other pedagogies
at teaching proof conventions?