Cognitive Engagement: A More Reliable Proxy for Learning?

Medical student engagement is a constant topic of conversation between all faculty members seeking to explore varied approaches to student support. Although considerable work has been undertaken to explore the various domains of engagement, generally it still remains a poor proxy for learning. This personal perspective seeks to highlight how cognitive engagement might be viewed as the key domain in which students must operate. Only when students have become masters of their current knowledge base and what it is they are required to know as part of their course, can they make behavioural decisions to support their learning.