'I don't know any evidence, that teaching the "mechanistics" of math should lower the chance of understanding it.' I think that's a bit of a straw man. The cha

'I don't know any evidence, that teaching the "mechanistics" of math should lower the chance of understanding it.' I think that's a bit of a straw man. The challenge is that simply getting the right answer, especially in terms of arithmetic (one small piece of math), can mask how well a student understands the underlying concepts and whether s/he can flexibly apply the concepts. Here's a great video on that topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ofQ_WnQiZ4 And here's a great video that shows what a participatory classroom with a great teacher can achieve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvKWEvKSi8