Comparative analysis between three theoretical approaches through empirical experiences at university level

Abstract Research into mathematics education at university level includes a wide range of theoretical approaches. This poses considerable challenges to researchers in terms of understanding and harmonizing the compatibility and commensurability of those approaches. The research community has already problematised and studied these challenges using networking theories. The networking theories framework is taken as a starting point in this study to contrast different approaches and to broaden the comparison of different frameworks. In particular, three case studies framed in the Action, Process, Object, Schema Theory, in the Problem-Solving approach, and in the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic are analysed. The differences and possible similarities between the three with regard to the research questions addressed, their objects of study, their empirical bases, as well as their research ends are considered. The analysis offers an insight into the potential for collaboration and the networking of theories in the field of university mathematics education.