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How mathematicians obtain conviction: implications for mathematics instruction and research on epistemic cognition
journal contribution
posted on 2014-01-23, 16:45 authored by Keith Weber, Matthew InglisMatthew Inglis, Juan P. Mejia-RamosThe received view of mathematical practice is that mathematicians gain
certainty in mathematical assertions by deductive evidence rather than empirical or
authoritarian evidence. This assumption has influenced mathematics instruction where
students are expected to justify assertions with deductive arguments rather than by
checking the assertion with specific examples or appealing to authorities. In this paper,
we argue that the received view about mathematical practice is too simplistic; some
mathematicians sometimes gain high levels of conviction with empirical or authoritarian
evidence and sometimes do not gain full conviction from the proofs that they read. We
discuss what implications this might have, both for for mathematics instruction and
theories of epistemic cognition.
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School
- Science
Department
- Mathematics Education Centre
Citation
WEBER, K., INGLIS, M. and MEJIA-RAMOS, J.P., 2014. How mathematicians obtain conviction: implications for mathematics instruction and research on epistemic cognition. Educational Psychologist, 49 (1), pp.36-58Publisher
© Routledge (Taylor & Francis)Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2014Notes
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Educational Psychologist on 16th January 2014, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00461520.2013.865527ISSN
0046-1520eISSN
1532-6985Publisher version
Language
- en
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