Proving across the years -

Abstract

Middle primary years (8 to 11 years) and early secondary (12 to 15 years)

In the past, proving has been seen as a topic for upper secondary schools, or universities. In recent decades, however, there has been a move internationally to emphasise proving (often called instead ‘logical thinking’, ‘argumentation’ ‘deduction’ ‘justifying’ or ‘reasoning’) from the beginning of schooling. For teachers who have only seen proving in upper secondary school or university, where proofs are often abstract, symbolic, formal and embedded in axiomatic systems, it is sometimes difficult to imagine how proving can be integrated into teaching in middle primary and early secondary classrooms.

This workshop will involve exploration of examples and discussion of general principles for basing teaching on proving.