This article presents an inquiry-oriented lesson for teaching Lagrange's theorem in abstract algebra. This lesson was developed and refined as part of a larger grant project focused on how to "Orchestrate Discussions Around Proof" (ODAP, the name of the project). The lesson components were developed and refined with attention to how well…

The multiplication principle (MP) is foundational for combinatorial problem-solving. From a units-coordination perspective, applying the MP with justification entails establishing unit relationships between the number of options at each independent stage of a counting process and the total number of combinatorial outcomes. Existing research…

Analogy has played an important role in developing modern mathematics. However, it is unclear to what extent students are granted opportunities to productively reason by analogy. This article proposes a set of lessons for introducing topics in ring theory that allow students to engage with the process of reasoning by analogy while exploring new…

In recent years, professional organizations in the United States have suggested undergraduate mathematics shift away from pure lecture format. Transitioning to a student-centered class is a complex instructional undertaking especially in the proof-based context. In this paper, we share lessons learned from a design-based research project centering…

Professors in proof-based mathematics courses often intend that the feedback they provide on students' flawed proofs will promote proof comprehension. In this theoretical article, we investigate how such feedback can be formulated. Drawing on Lakatos's process of proof and refutation, we propose the notion of "heuristic refutation…

Recent research in university mathematics education has moved beyond the traditional focus on the transition from secondary to tertiary education and students' understanding of introductory courses such as pre-calculus and calculus. There is growing interest in the challenges students face as they move into more advanced mathematics courses that…

In this exploratory study, we investigate undergraduate students' engagement with generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) in proving mathematical statements. We selected six mathematical statements to conduct interviews with three students. We present the emergent framework, Students' Interactive Proving Experience with AI (SIPE-AI), which…

For students taking higher level mathematics courses, the transition from computational to proof-based courses such as analysis and algebra not only introduces a new format of writing and communication, but also a new level of abstraction. This study examines the affordances of one particular tool to aid students in this transition: a proof…

In this paper we develop a case for introducing a new teaching tool to undergraduate mathematics. Lean is an interactive theorem prover that instantly checks the correctness of every step and provides immediate feedback. Teaching with Lean might present a challenge, in that students must write their proofs in a formal way using a specific syntax.…

Undergraduate concepts are often first introduced in a single-dimensional setting and then extended to multiple dimensions. For instance, many undergraduate real analysis students will first learn of the metric topology on [set of real numbers] before being exposed to more general metric spaces. I conducted a paired teaching experiment (Steffe…

This research article is about "Introducing a Supportive Framework to Address Students' Misconceptions and Difficulties in Learning Mathematical proof techniques (MPT): A Case of Debark University". This study aims to develop, introduce, and implement a supportive framework to overcome students' misconceptions and difficulties in MPT.…

The purpose of this study is to examine the performances of university students' using dynamic mathematics software GeoGebra in argumentations and proving processes. A task related to the limit involving "sinx/x" was designed and 18 university students worked on the task during the collaborative learning, scientific debate, and…

Expert mathematicians use examples and visual representations as part of their informal mathematics reasoning when constructing proofs. In contrast, the ways undergraduates reason and work toward creating proofs is an open area of investigation, particularly in advanced mathematics. Furthermore, research on students' reasoning in topology is…

We are interested in understanding how university students learn to use programming as a tool for "authentic" mathematical investigations (i.e., similar to how some mathematicians use programming in their research work). The theoretical perspective of the instrumental approach offers a way of interpreting this learning in terms of…

Many mathematics departments have transition to proof (TTP) courses, which prepare undergraduate students for proof-oriented mathematics. Here we discuss how common TTP textbooks connect three topics ubiquitous to such courses: logic, proof techniques, and sets. In particular, we were motivated by recent research showing that focusing on sets is…