Does reading a mathematical proof for validation engender different behaviors from reading it for comprehension? Experts and novices each read two mathematical proofs under different sets of instructions: they were asked to understand one proof, and to assess the validity of the other. Their eye movements were recorded while they read
and were analyzed to investigate possible differences in attention allocation, in cognitive demand and in the mathematical reading process. We found negligible differences in reading behaviors under the two sets of instructions, and we discuss the implications of this for theoretical development, research methodology and
pedagogical practice.
History
School
Science
Department
Mathematics Education Centre
Published in
International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education
Citation
PANSE, A., ALCOCK, L. and INGLIS, M., 2018. Reading proofs for validation and comprehension: An expert-novice eye-movement study. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, 4 (3), pp.357–375.
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Acceptance date
2018-04-19
Publication date
2018
Notes
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-018-0077-6.