Three Dimensions: A Model of Goal and Theory Description in Mathematics Instruction ¿ The Wiskobas Project

In Dutch "WISKOBAS" stands for a particular kind of mathematics in the elementary school (ages 6-12). In tum Wiskobas was one of the depart­ ments in the IOWO, the Institute for the Development of Mathematics Education. This institute was concerned with the development of material for mathematics education as well as the related research on the possibility of change from the then existing arithmetic instruction to the future mathematics education. The present publication Three Dimensions has three aims: to give a picture of the goals Wiskobas set for future mathematics education, at the same time to show how such goals can be described, and to show the theoretical framework of the Wiskobas curriculum. The problem at hand is not at all simple. What is more, Wiskobas' ideas about mathematics education cannot literally be translated into strings of words. So how can we face the accusation that our objectives are unattain­ able and the goal itself irrational? In order to avoid this vagueness as much as possible and for the sake of clarity, this book makes continuous use of illustrations of mathematics education. In these examples both the subject-matter and the methods of description of the goals are illustrated as explicitly as possible, while at the same time creating the opportunity to read between the lines. The reader is urged to follow carefully the mathe­ matical material at the start of each chapter. This advice applies both to the more general education oriented, and to the more mathematical! didactical reader.