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On skepticism and its role in the development of proof in the classroom

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine students’ development of a capacity to maintain doubt, against a backdrop of empirical evidence. Specifically, drawing on data from clinical interviews and a series of teaching experiments, this paper describes two pathways, the Experiential Pathway and the Cultural Non-Experiential Pathway, for the development of the mathematical disposition of engaging in skepticism towards empirical validations. Issues related to current ways of framing students’ views of empirical evidence and the role of pragmatic forms of doubt are considered.

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Notes

  1. Skepticism in this context refers to a form of scientific skepticism or habitual doubt, rather than to philosophical skepticism.

  2. Example 10 is not an example of skepticism (as it lacks conviction) but of a similar comment.

  3. For a discussion of the distinctions between enculturation and acculturation see Kirshner (2004).

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Larry Sowder, for his supervision of the original research, and Paolo Boero and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on prior drafts of this article.

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  1. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, USA

    Stacy A. Brown

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  1. Stacy A. Brown
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Correspondence to Stacy A. Brown.

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The retrospective analysis reported in this paper was conducted with data drawn from the author’s dissertation study, The Evolution of Students’ Understanding of Mathematical Induction: A Teaching Experiment (2003), completed under the direction of Larry Sowder.

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Brown, S.A. On skepticism and its role in the development of proof in the classroom. Educ Stud Math 86, 311–335 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-014-9544-4

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