DATE: December 07, 2007

CONTACT: Michalann Evatt, (864) 656-3482
mevtt@clemson.edu

WRITER: Julie Ledbetter, (864) 656-2061
jeledbe@clemson.edu

Leading educator in mathematics teaching to speak at Clemson

CLEMSON – One of the leading educators of mathematics teachers, Paul Cobb, will give a lecture titled “The Challenges of Scale: Designing Schools and Districts as Learning Organizations for Instructional Improvement in Mathematics” at 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10, in the Palmetto Ballroom of the University Union at Clemson University.

Cobb holds the Endowed Peabody Chair in the department of teaching and learning at Vanderbilt's Peabody College, located in Nashville, Tenn., where he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in mathematics education.

Cobb’s research interests focus on students’ mathematical learning as it occurs in the social context of the classroom. His work on student learning and instructional design that supports student learning has been instrumental in understanding how teachers can improve mathematics teaching.

His research is being funded now by a grant from the National Science Foundation, but over the years he has received more than $8.8 million in external funding for his research.

Cobb is an elected member of the National Academy of Education, and in 2005 he was awarded the Hans Freudenthal Medal from the International Commission on Mathematics Instruction.

The lecture, sponsored by the Consortium for the Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research on Human Opportunity and the Eugene T. Moore School of Education, is open to the public.