Investigation of Non-Verbal Proof Skills of Preservice Mathematics Teachers’

Year 2019, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 21 - 39, 06.05.2019

Handan Demircioğlu

Abstract

The importance of both proof and
visualization has been frequently emphasized in mathematics education. Visual
proof or nonverbal proofs are defined as diagrams or illustrations that help us
to see why a mathematical expression is correct and how to begin to prove the
accuracy of this statement. The aim of this research is to examine non-verbal
proof skills of preservice mathematics teachers’. The study was carried out
with case studies from qualitative research designs. The participants of the
study consisted of 53 preservice mathematics teachers in a state university in
Central Anatolia. The data were collected with a sample of 3 non-verbal proof
samples directed to preservice teachers. The analysis of the data was made by
classifying the replies of the pre-service teachers according to their
similarities and differences. The findings showed that preservice teachers
generally associate images with geometric figures. In addition, it was also
seen that those who saw the visual relationship between the given visual and
mathematical expression used to show that that the expression is correct
instead of proofing the visual.

Keywords

: Proof, Proof without words

Investigation of Nonverbal Proof Skills of Preservice Mathematics Teachers’: A Case Study / Matematik Öğretmen Adaylarının Sözsüz İspat Becerilerinin İncelenmesi: Bir Durum Çalışması

Abstract

The importance of both proof and visualization
has been frequently emphasized in mathematics education. Visual proof or
nonverbal proofs are defined as diagrams or illustrations that help us to see
why a mathematical expression is correct, and how to begin to prove the
accuracy of this statement. The aim of this research is to examine nonverbal
proof skills of preservice mathematics teachers. The study was carried out with
case studies, one of the qualitative research designs. The participants of the
study consisted of 53 preservice mathematics teachers at a state university in
Central Anatolia, Turkey. The data were collected with a sample of three
nonverbal proof samples directed to preservice teachers. The analysis of the
data classified the preservice teachers’ responses according to their
similarities and differences. The findings showed that preservice teachers
generally associate images with geometric figures. In addition, it was also
seen that those who saw the visual relationship between the given visual and
mathematical expression used it to show the expression as correct instead of
proofing the visual.

Keywords

Proof, Nonverbal poof, Visual proof, İspat, Sözsüz ispat, Görsel ispat

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