LAUSR

I write in response to Gooding et al.’s (2017) article on twelve tips for applying science of learning in medical education. The importance of metacognition commonly understood as awareness of one’s thinking accompanied by self-regulatory behavior for health professions education cannot be over emphasized. However, this article risks conveying a simplistic application of learning and teaching techniques that ignores the attitudes and values of learners and educators. While the tips are presented as specific evidence-based strategies, it continues to compartmentalize learning as an unidirectional acquisition process. To empower learners, there is a need to rise beyond evidence-based teaching techniques to reconceptualize metacognition as a socially mediated process (Goos et al. 2002). In their three-year study of patterns of student–student social interaction in mediated metacognitive mathematical learning activities, metacognitive monitoring and regulation of learners’ behavior highlighted the reciprocal character of collaborative interactions, where mutuality was expressed through a balance of utterances labeled as self-disclosure, feedback request, and co-constructions of understandings. Teaching practice reflects practical theories of teaching and learning (Handal & Lauvas 1987). Whether or not educators are aware of them, knowledge, experience, attitudes and values impact medical education practices (Mann 2011). Recognising metacognition as a socially mediated activity can inform the work of creating learning experiences that recognize both individual and social aspects of learning. To the greatest extent possible, educators and learners need to be aware that much of what is learned is specific to the situation in which it is learned (Wenger 2000). Disclosure statement