This report on a recent study at Ohio State on teaching math is just the kind of thing that fuels arguments for a return to traditional pedagogy.
I can't tell you how many times I hear "We just need to go back to the basics" as an excuse for lock-step, non-inquiry based, rote memorization, teacher centered teaching.
As with everything, it is never one extreme or the other. A balance of abstract and concrete is the real solution here.
Oh, and the trains pass each other at 10 pm.
And I used a function table to solve it, but drew a diagram of trains to check it.