Examination of Secondary School Seventh Graders' Proof Skills and Proof Schemes

The aim of this study is to examine current proof making skills of secondary school seventh graders using proof schemes. Data of the study were collected in two phases. Initially, Proof Schemes Test, which was developed by the researchers, was administrated to 250 seventh grade students from eight secondary schools, which were chosen randomly. The answers of the students were classified according to proof schemes defined by Harel and Sowder (1998). In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were made with 9 students whose answers were in different proof schemes. As a result of the study, it was seen that the proofs produced by the students were generally in external and empirical proof schemes. In parallel with this finding, it was concluded that students' proof skills were not at an adequate level.