Table 1.

Learning mechanisms adapted from (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) with examples in Health professions education

Learning mechanisms	Description (at the intrapersonal level)	Example from HPE
Identification	Becoming aware of and defining different practices in relation to each other, leading to renewed insight into what the diverse practices concern	e.g., identifying how theory differs from practice, how health practices differ
Coordination	Searching for effective means and procedures that allow working across diverse practices efficiently	e.g., discussing how competence can be operationalized in a practice setting
Reflection	Coming to realize and explain differences between practices and thus to learn something new about their own and others’ practices	e.g., experiencing how protocols learned at school are too time consuming for complex health care
Transformation	Shaping of new practice or identity	e.g., contributing to a change of clinical practice in alignment with school theory or developing a professional identity