Mathematical Association of America Textbooks
2 total works
Designed for undergraduate students and lecturers, this text guides its users to develop the skills, attitudes, and habits of mind of a mathematician. It presents a carefully designed sequence of exercises and theorems so that its readers will be directed to discover mathematical ideas, strategies of proof, and strategies of thinking. Through the exploration of interesting mathematical content including graphs, groups, and calculus, this book helps to foster habits of inquiry. This book can be used by instructors as a text for an inquiry-based introduction to proof course, or as an independent study guide for mathematics students. The three core mathematical topics are presented separately, and each helps students develop theorem-proving skills and strategies of thinking whilst also providing an organised set of challenges that lead students to understand the process of mathematical creativity and development.
Number Theory Through Inquiry
by David C. Marshall, Edward Odell, and Michael Starbird
Published 30 December 2007
This innovative textbook leads students on a carefully guided discovery of introductory number theory. The book has two equally significant goals. The first is to help students develop mathematical thinking skills, particularly theorem-proving skills. The other goal is to help students understand some of the wonderfully rich ideas in the mathematical study of numbers. This book is appropriate for a proof transitions course, for independent study, or for a course designed as an introduction to abstract mathematics. It is designed to be used with an instructional technique variously called guided discovery or Modified Moore Method or Inquiry Based Learning (IBL). Instructors' materials explain the instructional method, which gives students a totally different experience compared to a standard lecture course. Students develop an attitude of personal reliance and a sense that they can think effectively about difficult problems; goals that are fundamental to the educational enterprise within and beyond mathematics.