Journal of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association
Volume 36 Issue 2, June 1999
34 – 38
Ideas for Developing Students’ Reasoning: A Hungarian Perspective
Anita Szombatlzelyi and Tibor Szarvas
As the end of the 20th century approaches, we start to realize again the significance of proof in mathematics education. The NCTM’s (1989) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics cautions against the tendency to completely abandon proofs and focus only on the end results and formulas. In this article, we re-emphasize the importance of proofs in teaching by sharing some of our experiences as students and teachers in Hungary, in addition to our experiences as graduate teaching assistants at an American university. We offer examples and ideas that might help educators develop students’ mathematical reasoning skills.
