Abstract
An online intro-to-proof course provided an unexpected opportunity for a series of email exchanges that yielded insights into one student’s mathematical thinking and the ambiguous role of mathematical jargon in miscuing this student’s reasoning. The jargon deals with the notation , which encapsulates multiple conceptual meanings: the process of taking the limit, the question of if the limit exists, and if the limit exists, its value. As a matter of jargon, the statement
was used in context for L to retain these multiple meanings, so L no longer represented merely a value. In computational calculus, this is of no consequence but in a course involving limit proofs, it led to confusion.
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Barry Cherkas
After 50 years of classroom teaching, Barry Cherkas tackled the challenge of moving his in-class proofs course online. He notes with delight that student evaluations of the online course get higher marks than the in-class course. This octogenarian supplements the recreations of his mathematical life with almost daily fun runs of mountain biking.