Informal prerequisites for informal proofs

Reasoning and proof play an important role in the mathematics classroom. However, prerequisites for the learning of mathematical reasoning and proof, such as logical competence or the understanding of concepts and proofs, are rarely taught explicitly. In an empirical survey with 106 students in grade 8 we investigated students' declarative and methodological knowledge related to some of these prerequisites. The results show that there are certain deficits which make it difficult for students to learn reasoning and proof.