The research programme of the Unit is focused on in-depth description and analysis of learners' mathematical thinking and concepts, and the development thereof with research-based curriculum development in schools in mind. In the Unit research is done from a constructivist perspective on knowledge and learning. Since the founding of the Unit, most of the projects have centered on learners' computational and algebraic thinking and concepts. Research results have already had a significant impact on the Mathematics curriculum in the primary phases in South African schools. The Unit has become internationally known for its research on the development of learners' understanding of division, as well as its research in the field of innovative classroom practice, in cooperation with the National Centre for Research in Mathematics Education at the University of Madison, Wisconsin.

A large number of postgraduate students in Didactics of Mathematics have done their research as part of the research projects within the Unit.