Conceptualizing reasoning-and-proving opportunities in textbook expositions: Cases from secondary calculus

Andreas Bergwall (1)

1 Örebro University

; [e-mail] Several recent textbook studies focus on opportunities to learn reasoning-and-proving. They typically investigate the extent to which justifications are general proofs and what opportunities exist for learning important elements of mathematical reasoning. In this paper, I discuss how a particular analytical framework for this might be refined. Based on an in-depth analysis of certain textbook passages in upper secondary calculus textbooks, I make an account for analytical issues encountered during this process and identify aspects of reasoning-and-proving in textbooks that might be missed unless the framework is refined. Among them there are characterizations of generality, use of different representations, logical and mathematical structure, and ordering of material and student activities. Finally, implications beyond textbook research are discussed.

Keywords: Reasoning-and-proving; mathematics textbook; upper secondary calculus

Domains: Mathematics [math]; Humanities and Social Sciences

Andreas Bergwall. Conceptualizing reasoning-and-proving opportunities in textbook expositions: Cases from secondary calculus. CERME 10, Feb 2017, Dublin, Ireland. ⟨hal-01873227⟩