How's about a half way step here: I agree that guided struggle is probably the most likely path to learning, but giving the student a concrete context they can apply does wonders. Back when I was first learning Calc, I had a professor notice I was also writing game software, at the time I was making a "Missile Command" clone. He pointed out that I could use calc to create "guided missiles" and more calc for various other things I had solvers. The light dawned in my head, and suddenly just the realization of the concrete application caused several calc concepts I'd been struggling with evaporate. Additionally, that created a reason, a justification for interest and context, and math almost instantly became peer to my interest in software, practically erasing any conceptual difference they had in my head. I cite that memory as the moment I became a mathematician.