I have always enjoyed reading through and working on proofs but have never been very good at them. It is always interesting to see the why behind every what. Simply knowing what is true or false is not good enough for me, I like to know why.
For this reason, I have been enjoying the lectures even more because we are working on the topic of proofs. There have been struggles along the way but after some time spent practicing and reading over past proofs, general strategies have been developed. While these strategies are not algorithms that will work with all proofs, they are similar to the proof structure as in they make up the bulk of the proof and leave you with blanks to fill in.
Many of these strategies are common sense or obvious but having actually thought and making them precise, they make the proof process much more straight forward. One strategy that originated from working on the second assignment is as follows: When possible, always refer back to the definitions relevant to your problem. This is a basic strategy that almost anyone will know to do but having it written down and thought out ensures that it is kept in mind. Writing it down acts similarly to a cheat sheet, it is there when you need it but you do not tend to use it during the test. The cheat sheet does not directly aid individuals but it is the process of creating one that does.
I'm happy to see that a cheat sheet is allowed for the second test. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the cheat sheet for the first test was not used during the test but it still helped to create one. For this reason I will be sure to have one ready for this week's upcoming test. I will include items relevant to the strategies mentioned above meaning items such as definitions, rules, and maybe, however unlikely, past proofs that may prove to be useful.
After the test we'll be able to prove, by example, if the test went well or not.
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