Relearning: a unified conceptualization across cognitive psychology and mathematics education

Abstract

We propose a unifying conceptualization of “relearning”, a construct that has a long history in the field of cognitive psychology and has recently been reconceptualized in the mathematics education with respect to teacher training. We argue that existing accounts of relearning are versions of the same phenomenon subjected to different motivations for relearning and intended relearning outcomes. Utilizing the existing theoretical rigor behind existing conceptualizations of relearning, we demonstrate the utility of the unified conceptualization in using findings from one section to suggest new avenues for others, and in addressing issues posed by a lack of theoretical framing in the studies of remedial mathematics education and repeated mathematics courses.