After reading the previous sections of Chapter 3 and doing the homework, the reading of these two sections was easier to comprehend. However, there is one thing that I can see will be difficult going forward: which proof method to use. In this reading we learned of another method - proof by cases. There are benefits and advantages to all the methods learned thusfar. I follow the examples of proofs in the text and agree, of course, that the correct method has been chosen. However, I have a fear that I will not be able to quickly choose the correct method when showing my own proofs, resulting in lost time, mounting frustration, or inability to construct a correct proof.
This fear leads to the part of the text that I appreciated most:
When learning any mathematical subject, it is not the least bit unusual to make mistakes along the way. In fact, part of learning mathematics is to learn from your mistakes and those of others.
This is encouraging to me. I've already made many mistakes in this course. I fully expect to make more mistakes along the way. The thing on which I will focus is learning from my mistakes. I'm certain that I will stumble along the way, but I am still excited about learning the material in this course and, in some strange way, looking forward to making mistakes because I know that I will learn from them.
No comments:
Post a Comment