Timeline for Teaching undergraduate students to write proofs
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 14, 2011 at 13:29 | history | edited | Jon Bannon | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
refocus of answer
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| Jan 14, 2011 at 13:25 | history | undeleted | Jon Bannon | ||
| Jan 14, 2011 at 13:10 | history | deleted | Jon Bannon | ||
| Jan 14, 2011 at 1:41 | comment | added | Jon Bannon | @Thierry: It does take time. I perhaps said too much here too quickly...it is in danger of asserting something different than I intended it to. My original point was to point out Velleman's book. I found it a nice one for one of these "proof" courses. The comment you are referring to was intended to mean that Velleman's approach very clearly delineates how to dot the i's and cross the t's, leaving the non-routine parts of the proof right before our eyes. They are learning the details, perhaps more thoroughly than I did. | |
| Jan 14, 2011 at 1:23 | comment | added | Thierry Zell | I agree that a student should be sensitized to what is routine, and what is not, but it seems possible only when students have already learned how to dot their i's and cross their t's properly. The same way that it's unwise to break the rules of good writing before one has learned to appreciate why they're here. Unfortunately, all of this takes time! | |
| Jan 13, 2011 at 20:39 | comment | added | Jon Bannon | BTW: I posted this answer because the book in question serves the students well as far as allowing students to focus on those aspects of proof that are common to all mathematics courses. My personal taste, however, is that mathematical objects should be engaged fully, and that attempts to make things look "neat" like this may not be helpful. I never, for example, had a course in proof...it seems like something we think is a good idea only after we already know what a proof is. I report this because students seem to do better in analysis at my school once they have read the book. | |
| Jan 13, 2011 at 20:31 | history | edited | Jon Bannon | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
added 5 characters in body
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| Jan 13, 2011 at 20:26 | comment | added | Jon Bannon | Will do, Amit. Please let me know if you want me to clarify this more. | |
| Jan 13, 2011 at 20:25 | history | edited | Jon Bannon | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
Adding some meat by request; added 60 characters in body
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| Jan 13, 2011 at 19:58 | comment | added | Amit Kumar Gupta | Hi Jon, thanks for the response. Can you go into some more detail as to the manner in which such a course benefits students, and the degree to which it benefits students. What specifically have you experienced that demonstrates such manners and degrees of benefit? | |
| Jan 13, 2011 at 15:24 | history | answered | Jon Bannon | CC BY-SA 2.5 |