Learning Task No. 1.

A. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF LITEREATURE ON THE ROLE OF PROOFS IN

GEOMETRY

I. INTRODUCTION

Part of our difficulties in understanding the notion of proofs stem from the fact
that we do not have the right picture of what mathematics is. From elementary school
through the first years of college we are taught that the goal is to solve an equation or to
find a minimum of a function or to find how much wheat we should grow. This is of
course something that mathematics can do, but it is not what mathematics is about.
Mathematics is about understanding the laws behind numbers, algebra and geometry. It’s
about finding new and non routine ways to look at these systems and to explain strange
phenomena that we may encounter. There is a whole new world of ideas, understanding
and discoveries that is invisible to people who only know how to differentiate a function.
To enter to this world, it is necessary to use the ideas of abstraction and mathematical
proof.
All of us are aware of the fact that in mathematics “we should follow the rules”.
This is indeed the case of writing a mathematical proof. So let us see how proofs work
specially in geometry and what their roles in geometry are.

II. SUMMARY/ LIST OF LITERATURE REVIEWED

Here is the list of the articles that I have read about the importance of proofs in
mathematics and geometry.

List of Literature Assertions

1. WHAT ARE MATHEMATICAL The importance of a mathematical proof
PROOFS AND WHY THEY is the insight that it may offer. Being able
ARE IMPORTANT? to write down a valid proof may indicate
 (proofgoldberger) that you have a thorough understanding
of the problem. But there is more than
this to it. The efforts to prove a
conjecture may sometimes require a
deeper understanding of the theory in
question. A mathematician that tries to
prove something may gain a great deal of
understanding and knowledge, even if
his/her efforts to prove that conjecture
will end with failure.
2. PROOFS (by: Doctor Peterson) We can be fooled in the other direction:
there are some things that are hard to
believe without seeing a proof. For
example, I think it's hard to believe that
the Pythagorean theorem should always
be true. I need a proof to convince me
that I can always use it and it will always
work.
A different kind of proof can be useful in
saving effort: the existence proof.
Sometimes it can take a lot of work to
solve a problem; a mathematician may
first be able to prove whether a solution
exists, without having to do all the work
of finding it. That can either save us from
bothering to try it, or allow us to work in
confidence, knowing there is an answer.
3. PROOFS AS A TOOL FOR Making a similar distinction, Herse
LEARNING MATHEMATICS (1993, p. 390) states that mathematicians
(by: Eric J. Knuth) are interested in “more than whether a
conjecture is correct, mathematicians
 want to know why it is correct.” In short,
mathematicians recognize that a primary
role of proof in mathematics is to
establish the truth of a result; yet
perhaps more important, particularly
from an educational perspective, is their
recognition of its role in fostering
understanding of the underlying
mathematics.
4. Developing Understanding for The Role and Function of Proof
Different Roles of Proof in Traditionally the function of proof has
Dynamic Geometry been seen almost exclusively in terms of
(Michael de Villiers, University of the verification (conviction or
Durban-Westville) justification) of the correctness of
mathematical statements. The idea is that
proof is used mainly to remove either
personal doubt and/or those of skeptics;
an idea which has one-sidedly dominated
teaching practice and most discussions
and research on the teaching of proof.
For instance, according to Kline
(1973:151): "a proof is only meaningful
when it answers the student's doubts,
when it proves what is not obvious."
(bold added).
However, proof has many other
important functions within mathematics,
which in some situations are of far
greater importance to mathematicians
than that of mere verification. Some of
these are (compare De Villiers, 1997;
 1998; 1999; 2001):
· explanation (providing insight into why
it is true)
· discovery (the discovery or invention of
new results)
· communication (the negotiation of
meaning)
· intellectual challenge (the self-
realization/fulfilment derived from
constructing a proof)
· systematisation (the organisation of
various results into a deductive system
of axioms, concepts and theorems)

III. CONCLUSIONS AND REACTIONS

Base from the articles that I have read, I could say that “proofs” plays an
important role in mathematics and in geometry. We may be able to know whether
a statement is true or not. We just can’t directly believe a certain statement
without having proofs. These proofs can provide us self satisfaction to whatever
doubts we have in mind. We can save time and effort before solving a problem if
we know there is no proof to such. A proof is what we need if we are searching
for the truth.