In this commentary, the authors respond to Ellaway & Patocka’s “To define or not to define: A commentary on the Case for Metacognitive Reflection,” which raised several thoughtful and discerning questions concerning the implications of defining, or alternatively, refraining from defining constructs. …

The concepts of metacognitive refection, refection, and metacognition are distinct but have undergone shifts in meaning as they migrated into medical education. Conceptual clarity is essential to the construction of the knowledge base of medical education and its educational interventions. We conducted …