abstract.tex

Guided by constructivism, which posits that students assimilate new knowledge into what has made sense to them previously, we researched student conceptualizations of proof.
We used the qualitative research methods of thematic
analysis and phenomenography to learn and categorize student conceptualizations
of proof, and of mathematization more generally. Our published
work exhibited an explanatory connection between publications of others in
the mathematics education community and the computer science education
community. 
The connecton we found is lack of understanding of proof by mathematic induction 
as an argument, as occurs among students of mathematics and of computer science,
explains lack of understanding of how recursive algorithms work.
We used these phenomenographic categories to intuit ideas whose
emphasis might be helpful for students’ development of deeper understanding
of proof.