Learning from case-based instruction: The role of perceived value, learning orientation, and reflective self-regulation

Peggy Ann Ertmer, Purdue University

Abstract

This study examined how students responded to and learned from case-based instruction by exploring similarities and differences among nine students' experiences. Students' responses were defined in terms of their perceived interest, relevance, and confidence for learning from this method. Students' approaches to learning were defined by the goals, self-regulation strategies, and evaluation criteria they used to focus and facilitate their learning. After classifying 58 first-year veterinary students according to their pre-course performances on two self-regulated learning inventories, I assumed a phenomenological perspective to gather interview data from 9 students who represented both high and low self-regulators. These students were enrolled in a biochemistry laboratory course which utilized case-based instruction as the primary instructional method. Data from multiple sources were interpreted using constant comparative analysis methods and revealed three overall findings and several supporting categories and properties. These findings highlight the essential commonalities, as well as critical differences, in these students' experiences with case-based learning. Specifically, these three findings focus on the value that students assigned to the case method of teaching, the types of goals and evaluation criteria they used to focus their learning efforts, and the manner in which they utilized reflective self-regulation strategies to facilitate their learning. In general, students who reported feeling challenged by the case method were those who assigned high value to the case method of teaching, who set goals and evaluation criteria which focused on the learning process, and who utilized reflective self-regulatory strategies to monitor their learning progress. Students who reported feeling frustrated by the case approach tended to be those who assigned little, or fluctuating, value to case-based instruction, who focused on learning products, and/or who utilized habitual and less thoughtful strategies when confronted by difficult case studies. The findings of this study support other research addressing the role of perceived value, learning orientation, and strategic monitoring in students' learning and extend those findings to include important considerations for learning in a case-based course. Implications for both the development and use of case-based instruction are presented as well as suggestions for future research.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Newby, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Curricula|Teaching|Higher education

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