Students’ proof styles as individualisations of the genre of proof

Thursday, 11 June 2026, 2pm to 3pm

Research in undergraduate mathematics education proposes that proof can be considered a genre of writing. Yet, the potential of this proposal remains underexplored. Building on the genre literature and the commognitive framework, I will introduce the concept of individualized proof styles—cumulative networks of personally adapted rules of the proof genre that one endorses and enacts to produce proofs. Hence, proof styles play a role in whether students’ productions will be accepted as instances of the genre by a wider community. The construct will be illustrated with an undergraduate student who produced textbook-like proofs with minimal substantiation gaps.

Speaker(s): Dr Igor' Kontorovich, University of Hong Kong

Series: Subject Pedagogy Research Group

Department: Education (Department)

Host: Professor Gabriel Stylianides