Structured Derivations as a Unifying Proof Format

April 28, 2020Posted inGeneral, ResearchTags: , , , ,
The structured derivation format is a further development of the calculational proofs that were originally proposed by Edsger W. Dijkstra, Wim Feijen, and Nettie van Gasteren, in the 1980s. A calculational proof is essentially a chain of relations, written with explicit justifications for…

The Need for Justifications

April 28, 2020Posted inGeneral, High school, Middle schoolTags: , , ,
Proofs are of central importance for understanding mathematics, any deeper understanding of mathematics require that you know how to read proofs and how to construct proofs yourself. But writing proofs is seen as difficult in high school math today, and is usually avoided. The few proofs that are given are intuitive and informal, and varying in style and rigour. We show how structured derivations makes proofs easier to construct and analyse, by requiring that each proof step comes with an explicit justification.

An Overview of Structured Derivations

April 21, 2020Posted inGeneralTags: , , , , , ,
Structured derivations is the underlying format for writing mathematical derivations in eMath Studio. We give here an overview of the format, and then describe typical ways in which the format is used. The main principles behind structured derivations are the following: The way…