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On Mathematicians' Proof Skimming: A Reply to Inglis and Alcock

2013; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; Volume: 44; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5951/jresematheduc.44.2.0464

1945-2306

Keith Weber, Juan Pablo Mejía-Ramos,

Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills

In a recent article, Inglis and Alcock (2012) contended that their data challenge the claim that when mathematicians validate proofs, they initially skim a proof to grasp its main idea before reading individual parts of the proof more carefully. This result is based on the fact that when mathematicians read proofs in their study, on average their initial reading of a proof took half as long as their total time spent reading that proof. Authors Keith Weber and Juan Pablo Mejía-Ramos present an analysis of Inglis and Alcock's data that suggests that mathematicians frequently used an initial skimming strategy when engaging in proof validation tasks.