Our objective is to publish a book that lays out the theoretical
constructs and research methodologies within mathematics education that
have been developed by Paul Cobb and explains the process of their
development. We propose to do so by including papers in which Cobb
introduced new theoretical perspectives and methodologies into the
literature, each preceded by a substantive accompanying introductory
paper that explains the motivation/rationale for developing the new
perspectives and/or methodologies and the processes through which they
were developed, and Cobb's own retrospective comments. In this way the
book provides the reader with heretofore unpublished material that lays
out in considerable detail the issues and problems that Cobb has
confronted in his work, that, from his viewpoint, required theoretical
and methodological shifts/advances and provides insight into how he has
achieved the shifts/advances. The result will be a volume that, in
addition to explaining Cobb's contributions to the field of mathematics
education, also provides the reader with insight into what is involved
in developing an aggressive and evolving research program. When Cobb
confronts problems and issues in his work that cannot be addressed using
his existing theories and frameworks, he looks to other fields for
theoretical inspiration. A critical feature of Cobb's work is that in
doing so, he consciously appropriates and adapts ideas from these other
fields to the purpose of supporting processes of learning and teaching
mathematics; He does not simply accept the goals or motives of those
fields. As a result, Cobb reconceptualizes and reframes issues and
concepts so that they result in new ways of investigating, exploring,
and explaining phenomena that he encounters in the practical dimensions
of his work, which include working in classrooms, with teachers, and
with school systems. The effect is that the field of mathematics
education is altered. Other researchers have found his "new ways of
looking" useful to them. And they, in turn, adapt these ideas for their
own use. The complexity of many of the ideas that Cobb has introduced
into the field of mathematics education can lead to a multiplicity of
interpretations by practitioners and by other researchers, based on
their own experiential backgrounds. Therefore, by detailing the
development of Cobb's work, including the tensions involved in coming to
grips with and reconciling apparently contrasting perspectives, the book
will shed additional light on the processes of reconceptualization and
thus help the reader to understand the reasons, mechanisms, and outcomes
of researchers' constant pursuit of new insights.
