Trends for Previous Organizers with a view to Meaningful Learning in Mathematical Demonstrations

Abstract

From the perspective of Ausubel's Theory of Meaningful Learning, for Meaningful Learning to take place, new knowledge must be related to previous concepts specific to the learner's cognitive structure, in a non-arbitrary and non-literal way. With regard to mathematical demonstrations, the occurrence of three types of meaningful learning is necessary: ​​representational, conceptual and propositional. One way to promote meaningful learning, when the student does not have the necessary prior knowledge, is the use of Previous Organizers, which work as “cognitive bridges” between what he already knows and what he needs to know for new learning. This research aims to present and investigate teaching strategies for mathematical demonstrations, which can favor the significant learning of academics in the Licentiate Degree in Mathematics. In this way, a proposal of Previous Organizers in the teaching of mathematical demonstrations was elaborated and implemented, anchored in the trends in Mathematics Education: the History of Mathematics, the Handling of Concrete Material and the Solving of Problems. The implementation of the proposed Previous Organizer, through and action reserarch, has shown satisfactory results with regard to evidence of significant learning in mathematical demonstrations, favoring the professional qualification of academics.