Paul Cobb

Peabody Chair in Teaching and Learning, Professor of Education

Ed.D., University of Georgia, 1983

Research Area

During the past twenty years, we have learned much about how to support students' learning of central mathematical ideas and teachers' development of high-quality instructional practices. In contrast, we have learned little about how to support the improvement of mathematics instruction at scale. In educational contexts, when we talk about scale we are referring to the process of taking an instructional innovation that has proved effective in a small number of classrooms and reproducing that success in a large number of classrooms. To this point, research in mathematics education has rarely focused explicitly on understanding the process of improving mathematics teaching and learning at scale. This is problematic given that the history of educational reform efforts in the US has generally been one of failure.

My current research seeks to address this shortcoming by making instructional improvement in mathematics a researchable issue. To this end, my colleagues and I are collaborating with four urban school districts that are attempting to provide ambitious instruction for all students. We seek to add value to the districts' reform efforts by providing them with detailed, actionable feedback on how their improvement efforts can be adjusted to make them more effective. In addition, we are testing a series of conjectures about school and district support structures that might enhance the impact of research-based curricula and high-quality teacher professional development on teachers' classroom practices. In doing so, we view instructional improvement in mathematics as a challenge not merely for teachers but for school and districts as organizations. Our ultimate goal is to understand how schools and districts can become learning organizations for instructional improvement in mathematics. The issues that we are investigating include:
• Teacher networks and communities as contexts for teacher learning
• The role of school-based mathematics coaches in supporting teacher's learning
• The development of effective school and district instructional leadership in mathematics
• The knowledge that instructional leaders need to develop in order to effectively support instructional improvement in mathematics
• The structures that need to be established to ensure that traditionally under-served groups of students have access to high-quality mathematics instruction, particularly African American students and English Language Learners

Learn More about Paul Cobb:

Courses Taught | Selected Publications
Awards | CV | Media Mentions

Selected Publications

Books

Nasir, N. S., & Cobb, P. (Eds.) (2007). Equity in students’ access to significant mathematical ideas. New York: Teachers College Press.

Cobb, P., Yackel, E., & McClain, K. (Eds.) (2000). Communicating and symbolizing in mathematics: Perspectives on discourse, tools, and instructional design. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Nesher, P., Steffe, L. P., Cobb, P., Goldin, G., & Greer, B. (Eds.) (1996). Theories of mathematical learning. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [Editor of section on sociological and anthropological perspectives.]

Cobb, P., & Bauersfeld, H. (Eds.) (1995). Emergence of mathematical meaning: Interaction in classroom cultures. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Cobb, P. (Ed.) (1994). Learning mathematics: Constructivist and interactionist theories of mathematical development. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.

Steffe, L. P., Cobb, P., & von Glasersfeld, E. (1988). Young children's construction of arithmetical meanings and strategies. New York: Springer-Verlag. 343 pages.

Steffe, L. P., von Glasersfeld, E., Richards, J., & Cobb, P. (1983). Children's counting types: Philosophy, theory, and applications. New York: Praeger Scientific. 152 pages.

Monographs

Stephan, M., Bowers, J., & Cobb, P. (Eds.) (in press). "Supporting students’ development of measuring conceptions: Analyzing students’ learning in social context." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Monograph. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Wood, T., Cobb, P., Yackel, E., & Dillon, D. (1993) (Eds.). "Rethinking elementary school mathematics: Insights and issues." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Monograph No. 6. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 122 pages.

Book Chapters

Cobb, P., & Smith, T. (in press). The challenge of scale: Designing schools and districts as learning organizations for instructional improvement in mathematics. In T. Wood, B. Jaworski, K. Krainer, P. Sullivan, & D. Tirosh (Eds.), International handbook of mathematics teacher education. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.

Cobb, P. Gresalfi, M., & Hodge, L. L. (in press). A design research perspective on the identities that students are developing in mathematics classrooms. In B. Schwarz, T. Dreyfus & R. Hershkowitz (Eds.), The guided construction of knowledge in classrooms. Elsevier.

Cobb, P. & Green, S., (in press). Mathematical reasoning, the brain, and sociocultural context. In A. E. Kelly, S. Jensen, J. Baek & L. Kalbfleisch (Eds.), Cognitive neuroscience and mathematical learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Cobb, P., & Gravemeijer, K. (in press). Experimenting to support and understand learning processes. In A. E. Kelly (Ed.), Handbook of design research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Cobb, P. (in press). Classroom interactions and discourse as the context for mathematical and language learning. Deen, J, Hajer. M., & Koole, T. (Eds.), Interaction in two multicultural mathematics classrooms: Mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. Amsterdam: Aksant.

Cobb, P. (in press). The contributions of the transactional perspective to instructional design and the analysis of learning in social context. In T. Koschmann (Ed.), Theorizing learning and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Cobb, P. (2007). Putting philosophy to work: Coping with multiple theoretical perspectives. In F. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (Vol. 1, pp. 3-38). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Cobb, P., & Hodge, L. L. (2007). Culture, identity, and equity in the mathematics classroom. In N. S. Nasir & P. Cobb (Eds.), Diversity, equity, and access to mathematical ideas (pp. 159-171). New York: Teachers College Press.

Gravemeijer, K., & Cobb, P. (2006) Design research from the learning design perspective. In J. van den Akker, K. Gravemeijer, S. McKenney, & N. Nieveen (Eds.), Educational design research (pp. 17-51). London: Routledge.

Cobb, P. (2006). Mathematics learning as a social process. In J. Maas & W. Schlöglmann (Eds.), New mathematics education research and practice (pp. 147-152). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.

Cobb, P. (2006). Mathematics learning as a social process. In J. Maas & W. Schlöglmann (Eds.), New mathematics education research and practice (pp. 147-152). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.

Cobb, P., & McClain, K. (2006). Guiding inquiry-based math learning. In K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook in the learning sciences (pp. 171-186). New York: Cambridge University Press.

McClain, K., Cobb, P., & Gravemeijer, K. (2005). Statistical data analysis: A tool for learning. In T. A. Romberg, T. P. Carpenter, & F. Dremock (Eds.) Understanding mathematics and science matters (pp. 127-158). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Cobb, P., & McClain, K. (2004). Proposed design principles for the teaching and learning of elementary statistics. In D. Ben-Zvi & J. Garfield (eds.), The challenge of developing statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking (pp. 375-396). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.

Stephan, M., Cobb, P., & Gravemeijer, K. (2003). Coordinating social and psychological analyses: Learning as participation in mathematical practices. In M. Stephan, J. Bowers, & P. Cobb (Eds), Supporting students’ development of measuring conceptions: Analyzing students’ learning in social context. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Monograph No, 12 (pp. 67-102). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Stephan, M., & Cobb, P. (2003). The methodological approach to classroom-based research. In M. Stephan, J. Bowers, & P. Cobb (Eds), Supporting students’ development of measuring conceptions: Analyzing students’ learning in social context. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Monograph No. 12 (pp. 36-50). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Cobb, P. (2003). Investigating students’ reasoning about linear measurement as a paradigm case of design research. In M. Stephan, J. Bowers, J., & P. Cobb (Eds), Supporting students’ development of measuring conceptions: Analyzing students’ learning in social context. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Monograph No. 12 (pp. 1-16). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Lampert, M., & Cobb, P. (2003). White paper on communication and language. In J. Kilpatrick, D. Shifter, & G. Martin (Eds.), Principles and practices of school mathematics: Research companion volume (pp. 237-249). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Cobb, P. (2002). Modeling, symbolizing, and tool use in statistical data analysis. In K. Gravemeijer, R. Lehrer, B. van Oers, & L. Verschaffel (Eds.), Symbolizing and modeling in mathematics education (pp. 171-195). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.

Cobb, P., & McCLain, K. (2002). Supporting students' learning of significant mathematical ideas. In G. Wells & G. Claxton (eds.), Learning for life in the 21st Century (pp.154-166). Oxford, England: Blackwell.

Edited Journals

Nasir, N. S., & Cobb, P. (2002). Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 4, (2-3). [Special issue on cultural diversity and equity in mathematics education].

Cobb, P. (Ed.) (1994). Educational Studies in Mathematics, 26 (2-3). [Special issue on theories of mathematical development.]

Cobb, P. (Ed.) (1994). Educational Researcher, 23 (7). [Special issue on constructivism in mathematics and science education.]

Articles in Refereed Journals

Cobb, P., Zhao, Q., & Visnovska, J. (in press). "Learning from and adapting the theory of realistic mathematics education." Education and Didactique.

Cobb, P., & Tzou, C. (in press). "Learning about data analysis." ZDM.

Cobb, P., Gresalfi, M., & Hodge, L. L. (in press). "An interpretive scheme for analyzing the identities that students develop in mathematics classrooms." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education.

Gresalfi, M., & Cobb, P. (2006). "Cultivating students’ discipline-specific dispositions as a critical goal for pedagogy and equity." Pedagogies, 1, 49-58.

Cobb, P., & McClain, K. (2006). "The collective mediation of a high stakes accountability program: Communities and networks of practice." Mind. Culture, and Activity, 13, 80-100.

Cobb, P. (2004). "Mathematics, literacies, and identity." Reading Research Quarterly, 39, 332-337.

diSessa, A. A., & Cobb, P. (2004). "Ontological innovation and the role of theory in design experiments." Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13, 77-103.

Cobb, P., McClain, K., de Silva Lamberg, T., & Dean, C. (2003). "Situating teachers’ instructional practices in the institutional setting of the school and school district." Educational Researcher, 32 (6), 13-24.

Cobb, P., McClain, K., & Gravemeijer, K. (2003). "Learning about statistical covariation." Cognition and Instruction, 21, 1-78.

Cobb, P., Confrey, J., diSessa, A., Lehrer, R., & Schauble, L. (2003). "Design experiments in education research." Educational Researcher, 32 (1), 9-13.

Cobb, P. (2003). "Epistemological world views, Subject matter contexts, and the institutional setting of teaching." Issues in Education, 8, 149-158.

McGatha, M., Cobb, P., & McClain, K. (2002). "An analysis of students’ initial statistical understandings: Developing a conjectured learning trajectory." Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 16, 339-355.

Related Links

• Paul Cobb wins Freudenthal Medal

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