Vanderbilt Professor Paul Cobb Receives International Honor

Paul Cobb, a Vanderbilt University professor who earned both a master's and doctorate in mathematics education at UGA, has received the 2005 Hans Freudenthal Medal from the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI).

Cobb’s professional activity spans two decades and more than one research paradigm. He received the ICMI honor because his work is
a rare combination of theoretical developments, empirical research and practical applications. His work has had a major influence on the mathematics education community and beyond.

Born in a small town in southern England, Cobb did not expect to develop an academic career. After earning a BSc with honours in mathematics from the University of Bristol, he spent a few years working as a secondary school mathematics teacher. In 1978, he enrolled into a one-year masters program in mathematics education at the University of Georgia in Athens. Little did he know at that time where this seemingly insignificant step would take him. A few years later he was already one of the rising stars of research in mathematics education. It did not take him much longer to gain an international recognition and become a central figure as well as a major influence in the field of mathematics education.

Once a close collaborator of Ernst von Glasersfeld, emeritus professor of psychology, and Leslie P. Steffe, a research professor in mathematics education at UGA, Cobb began his career as a developer, and subsequently a critic, of the theoretical perspective known as radical constructivism. Cobb’s research and development projects, first in the field of elementary school mathematics and later of middle school statistics, are exemplary. They are a product of a comprehensive, well-designed, consistent, and constantly updated research program. Its main strength is its sensitivity, both to the lessons learned from earlier implementations and to the evolving practical needs of the field of education.

Cobb's work shows an acute awareness of the insufficiency of any over-delineated approach, and he has gradually moved the focus of his work from individual learners to teams, to classrooms, and to district-wide infrastructure. Across these settings, he has been systematically examining the consequences of the assumption that human learning is inherently social. In this respect, his work with Erna Yackel on sociomathematical norms paved important new ground. Thanks to this systematic foundational contribution, Cobb is today regarded as one of the leading sociocultural theorists in the field of mathematics education, and his work is currently yielding new insights on issues such as equity and students’ identities.

His research spans more than 100 journal articles and book chapters, as well as several books authored or edited with others. Prestigious journals, such as Educational Researcher, Cognition & Instruction, Journal of the Learning Sciences, Mind, Culture, and Activity, have consistently published his work.

Cobb’s work has had a tangible impact on the mathematics education vocabulary. It is through this work that such widely-used notions as taken-as-shared meaning or sociomathematical norms entered the professional discourse. He has received numerous grants, distinctions and awards, and was recently elected to the National Academy of Education.

 

Monday, May 1, 2006
Writer: Angela Hains, 706/583-0811, anicole7@uga.edu
Contact: Denise Mewborn, 706/542-4548, dmewborn@uga.edu