Categories of Conceptions of Proofs by Students of Computer Science
Thérèse Smith · OpenCommons at University of Connecticut (University of Connecticut) · 2016
Guided by constructivism, which posits that students assimilate new knowledge into what has made sense to them previously, we researched student conceptualizations of proof. We used the qualitative research methods of thematic analysis and phenomenography to learn and categorize student conceptualizations of proof, and of mathematization more generally. Our published work exhibited an explanatory connection between publications of others in the mathematics education community and the computer science education community. The connection we found is lack of understanding of proof by mathematic induction as an argument, as occurs among students of mathematics and of computer science, explains lack of understanding of how re- cursive algorithms work. We used these phenomenographic categories to intuit ideas whose emphasis might be helpful for students development of deeper understanding of proof.