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Constructivism and Activity Theory: A Consideration of Their Similarities and Differences as They Relate to Mathematics Education

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Mathematics for Tomorrow’s Young Children

Part of the book series: Mathematics Education Library ((MELI,volume 16))

Abstract

The primary purpose of this chapter is to clarify the basic tenets of activity theory and constructivism, and to compare and contras instructional approaches developed within these global theoretical perspectives. This issue is worthy of discussion in that research and development programs derived from these two perspectives are both vigorous. For example, the work of sociocultural theorists conducted within the activity theory tradition has become increasingly influential in the United States in recent years. One paradigmatic group of studies conducted by Lave (1988), Newman, Griffin, and Cole (1089). and Scribner (1984) has related arithmetical computation to more encompassing social activities such as shopping in a supermarket, packing crates in a dairy, and completing worksheets in school. Taken together, these analyses demonstrate powerfully the need to consider broader social and cultural processes when accounting for children’s development of mathematic cal competeuce.

The research reported in this chapter was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. MDR 885-0560 and by the Spencer Foundation. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of these foundations.

Several notion central to this chapter were elaborate in the course of discussion with Heinrich Bauersfeld, Gotz Krummheuer, and Jorg Voigt at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, and with Koeno Gravemeijer at the Freudenthal Institute, State University of Utrecht, Netherlands. The authors are also grateful to Bert van Oers, King Beach and Jack Smith for numerous helpful comments on a previous draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt University, USA

    Paul Cobb

  2. Purdue University, USA

    Marcela Perlwitz & Diana Underwood

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  1. Paul Cobb
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  2. Marcela Perlwitz
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  1. Curriculum Research & Development Group, University of Hawaii, USA

    Helen Mansfield

  2. Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Hawaii, USA

    Neil A. Pateman

  3. CIRADE, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada

    Nadine Bednarz

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Cobb, P., Perlwitz, M., Underwood, D. (1996). Constructivism and Activity Theory: A Consideration of Their Similarities and Differences as They Relate to Mathematics Education. In: Mansfield, H., Pateman, N.A., Bednarz, N. (eds) Mathematics for Tomorrow’s Young Children. Mathematics Education Library, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2211-7_2

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