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.
