Skip to main content

The Contributions of the Transactional Perspective to Instructional Design and the Analysis of Learning in Social Context

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Theories of Learning and Studies of Instructional Practice

Abstract

In his chapter, Clancey develops his transactional perspective by taking an interactional viewpoint as his primary point of reference. In this chapter, I argue that the distinction that Clancey draws between the interactional and transactional perspectives is a difference that makes a difference when theorizing about learning and practice. I first draw on Dewey’s pragmatism to clarify the criterion of usefulness as explanatory power that I use to assess the potential contributions of Clancey’s transactional perspective to the collective enterprise of mathematics education. I then focus on specific aspects of Clancey’s transactional perspective to illustrate its relevance in orienting instructional design and the analysis of learning in classroom settings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bateson, G. (1973). Steps to an ecology of mind. London: Paladin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauersfeld, H. (1980). Hidden dimensions in the so-called reality of a mathematics classroom. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 11, 23–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspectives and method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, G. W., & Moore, D. S. (1997). Mathematics, statistics, and teaching. American Mathematical Monthly, 104, 801–823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, P. (2000). The importance of a situated view of learning to the design of research and instruction. In J. Boaler (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 45–82). Stamford, CT: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, P. (2001). Supporting the improvement of learning and teaching in social and institutional context. In S. Carver & D. Klahr (Eds.), Cognition and instruction: Twenty-five years of progress (pp. 455–478). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, P., Gresalfi, M., & Hodge, L. L. (2009). An interpretive scheme for analyzing the identities that students develop in mathematics classrooms. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 40, 40–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, P., Stephan, M., McClain, K., & Gravemeijer, K. (2001). Participating in classroom mathematical practices. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 10, 113–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, P., Yackel, E., & Wood, T. (1989). Young children’s emotional act while doing mathematical problem solving. In D. B. McLeod & V. M. Adams (Eds.), Affect and mathematical problem solving: A new perspective (pp. 117–148). New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulter, J. (1986). Affect and social context: Emotion definition as a social task. In R. Harre (Ed.), The social construction of emotions (pp. 120–134). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Design-Based Research Collaborative. (2003). Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1890/1969). The logic of verification. In J. A. Boyston (Ed.), John Dewey: The early works (Vol. 3, pp. 83–92). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörfler, W. (2000). Means for meaning. In P. Cobb, E. Yackel, & K. McClain (Eds.), Symbolizing and communicating in mathematics classrooms: Perspectives on discourse, tools, and instructional design (pp. 99–132). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelson, D. C. (2002). Design research: What we learn when we engage in design. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 11, 105–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harre, R. (1986). An outline of the social constructionist viewpoint. In R. Harre (Ed.), The social construction of emotions (pp. 2–14). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J. (1991). Situating learning in communities of practice. In L. B. Resnick, J. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (Eds.), Perspectives on socially shared cognition (pp. 63–82). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McClain, K., & Cobb, P. (2001). The development of sociomathematical norms in one first-grade classroom. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 32, 234–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehan, H., & Wood, H. (1975). The reality of ethnomethodology. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, D. S. (1995). The basic practice of statistics. New York: W. H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nemirovsky, R. C., & Monk, S. (2000). If you look at it the other way. In P. Cobb, E. Yackel, & K. McClain (Eds.), Symbolizing, communicating and mathematizing: Perspectives on discourse, tools, and instructional design (pp. 177–221). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pepper, S. C. (1942). World hypotheses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prawat, R. S. (1995). Misreading Dewey: Reform, projects, and the language game. Educational Researcher, 24(7), 13–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W. M., Bowen, M. G., & Masciotra, D. (2002). From thing to sign and “natural object”: Towards a genetic phenomenology of graph interpretation. Science, Technology, and Human Values, 27, 327–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarbin, T. R. (1986). Emotion and act: Roles and Rhetoric. In R. Harre (Ed.), The social construction of emotion (pp. 83–97). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A. (1980). Cognitive science: The newest science of the artificial. Cognitive Science, 4, 33–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sleeper, R. W. (1986). The necessity of pragmatism: John Dewey’s conception of philosophy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. E. (1978). Purpose and thought: The meaning of pragmatism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toulmin, S. (1963). Foresight and understanding. New York: Harper Torchbook.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voigt, J. (1985). Patterns and routines in classroom interaction. Recherches en Didactique des Mathematiques, 6, 69–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westbrook, R. B. (1991). John Dewey and American democracy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yackel, E., & Cobb, P. (1996). Sociomathematical norms, argumentation, and autonomy in mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 27, 458–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Cobb .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Cobb, P. (2011). The Contributions of the Transactional Perspective to Instructional Design and the Analysis of Learning in Social Context. In: Koschmann, T. (eds) Theories of Learning and Studies of Instructional Practice. Explorations in the Learning Sciences, Instructional Systems and Performance Technologies, vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7582-9_17

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics