Mathematical induction at the tertiary level: looking behind apparences.

The relevance of inductive proofs in Mathematics is beyond question and the research in Mathematics Education has widely documented the students’ difficulties in under- standing and applying mathematical induction, both at secondary school level and at university level. In this paper, we present a qualitative study involving third year Mathematics degree students aimed at investigating the solidity/fragility of mathe- matical induction comprehension. The results highlight that mathematical induction is a very hard topic also in this context, in which are involved mathematical competent students. We argue the need to design non-standard activities able to get the misconceptions emerge, in order to support a deep understanding of the topic.