DEDUCTIVE OR INDUCTIVE? PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS’ PREFERENCE OF PROOF METHOD ON AN INTERMEDIATE PROOF TASK

Abstract

The emerging of formal mathematical proof is an essential component in advanced undergraduate mathematics courses. Several colleges have transformed mathematics courses by facilitating undergraduate students to understand formal mathematical language and axiomatic structure. Nevertheless, college students face difficulties when they transition to proof construction in mathematics courses. Therefore, this descriptive-explorative study explores prospective teachers' mathematical proof in the second semester of their studies. There were 240 pre-service mathematics teachers at a state university in Surabaya, Indonesia, determined using the conventional method. Their responses were analyzed using a combination of Miyazaki and Moore methods. This method classified reasoning types (i.e., deductive and inductive) and types of difficulties experienced during the proving. The results conveyed that 62.5% of prospective teachers tended to prefer deductive reasoning, while the rest used inductive reasoning. Only 15.83% of the responses were identified as correct answers, while the other answers included errors on a proof construction. Another result portrayed that most prospective teachers (27.5%) experienced difficulties in using definitions for constructing proofs. This study suggested that the analytical framework of the Miyazaki-Moore method can be employed as a tool to help teachers identify students' proof reasoning types and difficulties in constructing the mathematical proof.

Keywords

• deductive-inductive reasoning
• proving difficulties
• mathematical proof
• prospective teachers