X causes Y? It’s not that simple in education

These people write as if it is 1935. Where have they been?

I’m sure that I don’t understand the reference to 1935 but that’s because there was nothing to explain it. The article aims to justify research that provides understanding of why something works which is more valuable than knowing simply that it does. My experience has been that only one thing ensures learning - willing engagement of the students. The problem is that everyone’s imagination is not captured by the same thing. Moreover, new approaches seem often to work well but the effects fade over time. You can’t reach all the minds all the time.

Begin with the history of psychology. Then move to that of so-learning theory. And then math and philosophy: lack of basis for simple causal correlations.... That's all.