Learning Through Activity – Basic research on mathematical cognition

Simon and colleagues propose a line of pure basic research in what is fundamentally an applied domain, mathematics education. Learning Through Activity (LTA) has all the advantages and many of the disadvantages that a pure theory in an applied domain is likely to have. The seven papers in this special issue aptly demonstrate many of the advantages. An additional advantage is that explicating the theory, as they do, raises many important questions and issues. In this commentary, I discuss some of these questions and issues concerning both, the pure research and its potential applicability to real classrooms.