Mathematics education as a ?design science?

Abstract

In a paper presented to the Twenty-second Annual Meeting of German Mathematics Educators in 1988 Heinrich Bauersfeld presented some views on the perspectives and prospects of mathematics education. It was his intention to stimulate a critical reflection ‘among the members of the community’ on what they do and on what they could and should do in the future (Bauersfeld 1988). The early 1970s had witnessed a vivid programmatic discussion on the role and nature of mathematics education in the German speaking part of Europe (see the papers by Bigalke, Griesel, Wittmann, Freudenthal, Otte, Dress and Tietz in the special issue 74/3 of the Zentralblatt fur Didaktik der Mathematik as well as Krygowska 1972). Since then the status of mathematics education has not been considered on a larger scale despite the contributions by Burscheid (1983), Bigalke (1985) and Winter (1986). So the time is overdue for redefining the basic orientation for research; therefore, Bauersfeld’s talk could hardly have been more appropriate.