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Download fileDoes generating examples aid proof production?
journal contribution
posted on 2011-07-05, 14:23 authored by Paola Iannone, Matthew InglisMatthew Inglis, Juan P. Mejia-Ramos, Adrian Simpson, Keith WeberMany mathematics education researchers have suggested that asking learners
to generate examples of mathematical concepts is an effective way of learning
about novel concepts. To date, however, this suggestion has limited empirical support.
We asked undergraduate students to study a novel concept by either tackling
example generation tasks or reading worked solutions to these tasks. Contrary to
suggestions in the literature, we found no advantage for the example generation
group on subsequent proof production tasks. From a second study, we found that
undergraduate students overwhelmingly adopt a trial and error approach to example
generation and suggest that different example generation strategies may result in
different learning gains. We conclude by arguing that the teaching strategy of
example generation is not yet understood well enough to be a viable pedagogical
recommendation.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematics Education Centre
Citation
IANNONE, P. ... et al, 2011. Does generating examples aid proof production? Educational Studies in Mathematics, 77 (1), pp. 1-14.Publisher
© Kluwer Academic Publishers (now Springer)Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2011Notes
The final publication is available at: www.springerlink.comISSN
0013-1954;1573-0816Publisher version
Language
- en