PROVING AS A RATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: HABERMAS' CONSTRUCT OF RATIONALITY AS A COMPREHENSIVE FRAME FOR RESEARCH ON THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF PROOF

Abstract

In this paper we draw from Habermas' construct of rational behaviour a construct for rationality in proving that we propose as suitable to investigate the teaching and learning of proof and generate new research developments. At first, we discuss our conception of the proving process, where cognitive and cultural aspects are shown to play a crucial role, and we present our adaptation of Habermas' construct as a way of taking into account both cognitive and cultural aspects. The adapted construct is shown to be useful in the discussion of some examples at tertiary level; finally, drawing from the analysis of the examples, we indicate some research questions ( formulated in terms of the theoretical construct) that we feel worth to be explored.