Proof comprehension of undergraduate students and the relation to individual characteristics

In tertiary education, proof comprehension, that means reading and understanding written proofs, is an important activity in learning processes. However, to our knowledge there are no (empirical) studies analyzing the influence of reading strategies and the students’ individual characteristics on proof comprehension, yet. We developed a proof comprehension test in analysis based on an assessment model of Mejia-Ramos et al. (2012) to test the relation of students’ individual characteristics to proof comprehension. To get a first in-depth look which factors influence proof comprehension we analyzed the data of 64 students in their second semester in university. Additionally, we asked the students about their use of reading strategies. The results show that proof comprehension correlates with prior knowledge and with the use of single reading strategies. Possible consequences for mathematical higher education are discussed.