Student sensemaking of proofs at various distances: the role of epistemic, rhetorical, and ontological distance in the peer review process

Abstract

This manuscript focuses on how students make sense of proofs. Participants were students who engaged in peer-review conferences of each other’s attempted proofs in a graduate-level real analysis course for mathematics teachers. Building on the concept of distance from conversational analysis, we distinguish how three types of distance (epistemic, rhetorical, and ontological) between a student and a particular claim influence sensemaking. This article also explores the impact of students’ sensemaking on their perceptions of proof.