case study learning in the classroom

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Making Learning Relevant With Case Studies

The open-ended problems presented in case studies give students work that feels connected to their lives.

To prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet, we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers so that they’ll be ready for anything. One way to do this is by teaching content and skills using real-world case studies, a learning model that’s focused on reflection during the problem-solving process. It’s similar to project-based learning, but PBL is more focused on students creating a product.

Case studies have been used for years by businesses, law and medical schools, physicians on rounds, and artists critiquing work. Like other forms of problem-based learning, case studies can be accessible for every age group, both in one subject and in interdisciplinary work.

You can get started with case studies by tackling relatable questions like these with your students:

• How can we limit food waste in the cafeteria?
• How can we get our school to recycle and compost waste? (Or, if you want to be more complex, how can our school reduce its carbon footprint?)
• How can we improve school attendance?
• How can we reduce the number of people who get sick at school during cold and flu season?

Addressing questions like these leads students to identify topics they need to learn more about. In researching the first question, for example, students may see that they need to research food chains and nutrition. Students often ask, reasonably, why they need to learn something, or when they’ll use their knowledge in the future. Learning is most successful for students when the content and skills they’re studying are relevant, and case studies offer one way to create that sense of relevance.

Teaching With Case Studies

Ultimately, a case study is simply an interesting problem with many correct answers. What does case study work look like in classrooms? Teachers generally start by having students read the case or watch a video that summarizes the case. Students then work in small groups or individually to solve the case study. Teachers set milestones defining what students should accomplish to help them manage their time.

During the case study learning process, student assessment of learning should be focused on reflection. Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick’s Learning and Leading With Habits of Mind gives several examples of what this reflection can look like in a classroom: 

Journaling: At the end of each work period, have students write an entry summarizing what they worked on, what worked well, what didn’t, and why. Sentence starters and clear rubrics or guidelines will help students be successful. At the end of a case study project, as Costa and Kallick write, it’s helpful to have students “select significant learnings, envision how they could apply these learnings to future situations, and commit to an action plan to consciously modify their behaviors.”

Interviews: While working on a case study, students can interview each other about their progress and learning. Teachers can interview students individually or in small groups to assess their learning process and their progress.

Student discussion: Discussions can be unstructured—students can talk about what they worked on that day in a think-pair-share or as a full class—or structured, using Socratic seminars or fishbowl discussions. If your class is tackling a case study in small groups, create a second set of small groups with a representative from each of the case study groups so that the groups can share their learning.

4 Tips for Setting Up a Case Study

1. Identify a problem to investigate: This should be something accessible and relevant to students’ lives. The problem should also be challenging and complex enough to yield multiple solutions with many layers.

2. Give context: Think of this step as a movie preview or book summary. Hook the learners to help them understand just enough about the problem to want to learn more.

3. Have a clear rubric: Giving structure to your definition of quality group work and products will lead to stronger end products. You may be able to have your learners help build these definitions.

4. Provide structures for presenting solutions: The amount of scaffolding you build in depends on your students’ skill level and development. A case study product can be something like several pieces of evidence of students collaborating to solve the case study, and ultimately presenting their solution with a detailed slide deck or an essay—you can scaffold this by providing specified headings for the sections of the essay.

Problem-Based Teaching Resources

There are many high-quality, peer-reviewed resources that are open source and easily accessible online.

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo built an online collection of more than 800 cases that cover topics ranging from biochemistry to economics. There are resources for middle and high school students.
• Models of Excellence , a project maintained by EL Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has examples of great problem- and project-based tasks—and corresponding exemplary student work—for grades pre-K to 12.
• The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning at Purdue University is an open-source journal that publishes examples of problem-based learning in K–12 and post-secondary classrooms.
• The Tech Edvocate has a list of websites and tools related to problem-based learning.

In their book Problems as Possibilities , Linda Torp and Sara Sage write that at the elementary school level, students particularly appreciate how they feel that they are taken seriously when solving case studies. At the middle school level, “researchers stress the importance of relating middle school curriculum to issues of student concern and interest.” And high schoolers, they write, find the case study method “beneficial in preparing them for their future.”

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• v.16(1); 2015 May

Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains †

Associated data.

• Appendix 1: Example assessment questions used to assess the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning
• Appendix 2: Student learning gains were assessed using a modified version of the SALG course evaluation tool

Following years of widespread use in business and medical education, the case study teaching method is becoming an increasingly common teaching strategy in science education. However, the current body of research provides limited evidence that the use of published case studies effectively promotes the fulfillment of specific learning objectives integral to many biology courses. This study tested the hypothesis that case studies are more effective than classroom discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning of key biological concepts, development of written and oral communication skills, and comprehension of the relevance of biological concepts to everyday life. This study also tested the hypothesis that case studies produced by the instructor of a course are more effective at promoting learning than those produced by unaffiliated instructors. Additionally, performance on quantitative learning assessments and student perceptions of learning gains were analyzed to determine whether reported perceptions of learning gains accurately reflect academic performance. The results reported here suggest that case studies, regardless of the source, are significantly more effective than other methods of content delivery at increasing performance on examination questions related to chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. This finding was positively correlated to increased student perceptions of learning gains associated with oral and written communication skills and the ability to recognize connections between biological concepts and other aspects of life. Based on these findings, case studies should be considered as a preferred method for teaching about a variety of concepts in science courses.

INTRODUCTION

The case study teaching method is a highly adaptable style of teaching that involves problem-based learning and promotes the development of analytical skills ( 8 ). By presenting content in the format of a narrative accompanied by questions and activities that promote group discussion and solving of complex problems, case studies facilitate development of the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning; moving beyond recall of knowledge to analysis, evaluation, and application ( 1 , 9 ). Similarly, case studies facilitate interdisciplinary learning and can be used to highlight connections between specific academic topics and real-world societal issues and applications ( 3 , 9 ). This has been reported to increase student motivation to participate in class activities, which promotes learning and increases performance on assessments ( 7 , 16 , 19 , 23 ). For these reasons, case-based teaching has been widely used in business and medical education for many years ( 4 , 11 , 12 , 14 ). Although case studies were considered a novel method of science education just 20 years ago, the case study teaching method has gained popularity in recent years among an array of scientific disciplines such as biology, chemistry, nursing, and psychology ( 5 – 7 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 15 – 17 , 21 , 22 , 24 ).

Although there is now a substantive and growing body of literature describing how to develop and use case studies in science teaching, current research on the effectiveness of case study teaching at meeting specific learning objectives is of limited scope and depth. Studies have shown that working in groups during completion of case studies significantly improves student perceptions of learning and may increase performance on assessment questions, and that the use of clickers can increase student engagement in case study activities, particularly among non-science majors, women, and freshmen ( 7 , 21 , 22 ). Case study teaching has been shown to improve exam performance in an anatomy and physiology course, increasing the mean score across all exams given in a two-semester sequence from 66% to 73% ( 5 ). Use of case studies was also shown to improve students’ ability to synthesize complex analytical questions about the real-world issues associated with a scientific topic ( 6 ). In a high school chemistry course, it was demonstrated that the case study teaching method produces significant increases in self-reported control of learning, task value, and self-efficacy for learning and performance ( 24 ). This effect on student motivation is important because enhanced motivation for learning activities has been shown to promote student engagement and academic performance ( 19 , 24 ). Additionally, faculty from a number of institutions have reported that using case studies promotes critical thinking, learning, and participation among students, especially in terms of the ability to view an issue from multiple perspectives and to grasp the practical application of core course concepts ( 23 ).

Despite what is known about the effectiveness of case studies in science education, questions remain about the functionality of the case study teaching method at promoting specific learning objectives that are important to many undergraduate biology courses. A recent survey of teachers who use case studies found that the topics most often covered in general biology courses included genetics and heredity, cell structure, cells and energy, chemistry of life, and cell cycle and cancer, suggesting that these topics should be of particular interest in studies that examine the effectiveness of the case study teaching method ( 8 ). However, the existing body of literature lacks direct evidence that the case study method is an effective tool for teaching about this collection of important topics in biology courses. Further, the extent to which case study teaching promotes development of science communication skills and the ability to understand the connections between biological concepts and everyday life has not been examined, yet these are core learning objectives shared by a variety of science courses. Although many instructors have produced case studies for use in their own classrooms, the production of novel case studies is time-consuming and requires skills that not all instructors have perfected. It is therefore important to determine whether case studies published by instructors who are unaffiliated with a particular course can be used effectively and obviate the need for each instructor to develop new case studies for their own courses. The results reported herein indicate that teaching with case studies results in significantly higher performance on examination questions about chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication than that achieved by class discussions and textbook reading for topics of similar complexity. Case studies also increased overall student perceptions of learning gains and perceptions of learning gains specifically related to written and oral communication skills and the ability to grasp connections between scientific topics and their real-world applications. The effectiveness of the case study teaching method at increasing academic performance was not correlated to whether the case study used was authored by the instructor of the course or by an unaffiliated instructor. These findings support increased use of published case studies in the teaching of a variety of biological concepts and learning objectives.

Student population

This study was conducted at Kingsborough Community College, which is part of the City University of New York system, located in Brooklyn, New York. Kingsborough Community College has a diverse population of approximately 19,000 undergraduate students. The student population included in this study was enrolled in the first semester of a two-semester sequence of general (introductory) biology for biology majors during the spring, winter, or summer semester of 2014. A total of 63 students completed the course during this time period; 56 students consented to the inclusion of their data in the study. Of the students included in the study, 23 (41%) were male and 33 (59%) were female; 40 (71%) were registered as college freshmen and 16 (29%) were registered as college sophomores. To normalize participant groups, the same student population pooled from three classes taught by the same instructor was used to assess both experimental and control teaching methods.

Course material

The four biological concepts assessed during this study (chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication) were selected as topics for studying the effectiveness of case study teaching because they were the key concepts addressed by this particular course that were most likely to be taught in a number of other courses, including biology courses for both majors and nonmajors at outside institutions. At the start of this study, relevant existing case studies were freely available from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) to address mitosis and meiosis and DNA structure and replication, but published case studies that appropriately addressed chemical bonds and osmosis and diffusion were not available. Therefore, original case studies that addressed the latter two topics were produced as part of this study, and case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors and published by the NCCSTS were used to address the former two topics. By the conclusion of this study, all four case studies had been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by the NCCSTS ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/ ). Four of the remaining core topics covered in this course (macromolecules, photosynthesis, genetic inheritance, and translation) were selected as control lessons to provide control assessment data.

To minimize extraneous variation, control topics and assessments were carefully matched in complexity, format, and number with case studies, and an equal amount of class time was allocated for each case study and the corresponding control lesson. Instruction related to control lessons was delivered using minimal slide-based lectures, with emphasis on textbook reading assignments accompanied by worksheets completed by students in and out of the classroom, and small and large group discussion of key points. Completion of activities and discussion related to all case studies and control topics that were analyzed was conducted in the classroom, with the exception of the take-home portion of the osmosis and diffusion case study.

Data collection and analysis

This study was performed in accordance with a protocol approved by the Kingsborough Community College Human Research Protection Program and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the City University of New York (CUNY IRB reference 539938-1; KCC IRB application #: KCC 13-12-126-0138). Assessment scores were collected from regularly scheduled course examinations. For each case study, control questions were included on the same examination that were similar in number, format, point value, and difficulty level, but related to a different topic covered in the course that was of similar complexity. Complexity and difficulty of both case study and control questions were evaluated using experiential data from previous iterations of the course; the Bloom’s taxonomy designation and amount of material covered by each question, as well as the average score on similar questions achieved by students in previous iterations of the course was considered in determining appropriate controls. All assessment questions were scored using a standardized, pre-determined rubric. Student perceptions of learning gains were assessed using a modified version of the Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) course evaluation tool ( http://www.salgsite.org ), distributed in hardcopy and completed anonymously during the last week of the course. Students were presented with a consent form to opt-in to having their data included in the data analysis. After the course had concluded and final course grades had been posted, data from consenting students were pooled in a database and identifying information was removed prior to analysis. Statistical analysis of data was conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance and calculation of the R 2 coefficient of determination.

Teaching with case studies improves performance on learning assessments, independent of case study origin

To evaluate the effectiveness of the case study teaching method at promoting learning, student performance on examination questions related to material covered by case studies was compared with performance on questions that covered material addressed through classroom discussions and textbook reading. The latter questions served as control items; assessment items for each case study were compared with control items that were of similar format, difficulty, and point value ( Appendix 1 ). Each of the four case studies resulted in an increase in examination performance compared with control questions that was statistically significant, with an average difference of 18% ( Fig. 1 ). The mean score on case study-related questions was 73% for the chemical bonds case study, 79% for osmosis and diffusion, 76% for mitosis and meiosis, and 70% for DNA structure and replication ( Fig. 1 ). The mean score for non-case study-related control questions was 60%, 54%, 60%, and 52%, respectively ( Fig. 1 ). In terms of examination performance, no significant difference between case studies produced by the instructor of the course (chemical bonds and osmosis and diffusion) and those produced by unaffiliated instructors (mitosis and meiosis and DNA structure and replication) was indicated by the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. However, the 25% difference between the mean score on questions related to the osmosis and diffusion case study and the mean score on the paired control questions was notably higher than the 13–18% differences observed for the other case studies ( Fig. 1 ).

Case study teaching method increases student performance on examination questions. Mean score on a set of examination questions related to lessons covered by case studies (black bars) and paired control questions of similar format and difficulty about an unrelated topic (white bars). Chemical bonds, n = 54; Osmosis and diffusion, n = 54; Mitosis and meiosis, n = 51; DNA structure and replication, n = 50. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean (SEM). Asterisk indicates p < 0.05.

Case study teaching increases student perception of learning gains related to core course objectives

Student learning gains were assessed using a modified version of the SALG course evaluation tool ( Appendix 2 ). To determine whether completing case studies was more effective at increasing student perceptions of learning gains than completing textbook readings or participating in class discussions, perceptions of student learning gains for each were compared. In response to the question “Overall, how much did each of the following aspects of the class help your learning?” 82% of students responded that case studies helped a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 70% for participating in class discussions and 58% for completing textbook reading; only 4% of students responded that case studies helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” compared with 2% for class discussions and 22% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2A ). The differences in reported learning gains derived from the use of case studies compared with class discussion and textbook readings were statistically significant, while the difference in learning gains associated with class discussion compared with textbook reading was not statistically significant by a narrow margin ( p = 0.051).

The case study teaching method increases student perceptions of learning gains. Student perceptions of learning gains are indicated by plotting responses to the question “How much did each of the following activities: (A) Help your learning overall? (B) Improve your ability to communicate your knowledge of scientific concepts in writing? (C) Improve your ability to communicate your knowledge of scientific concepts orally? (D) Help you understand the connections between scientific concepts and other aspects of your everyday life?” Reponses are represented as follows: Helped a great amount (black bars); Helped a good amount (dark gray bars); Helped a moderate amount (medium gray bars); Helped a small amount (light gray bars); Provided no help (white bars). Asterisk indicates p < 0.05.

To elucidate the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning gains related to specific course learning objectives compared with class discussions and textbook reading, students were asked how much each of these methods of content delivery specifically helped improve skills that were integral to fulfilling three main course objectives. When students were asked how much each of the methods helped “improve your ability to communicate knowledge of scientific concepts in writing,” 81% of students responded that case studies help a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 63% for class discussions and 59% for textbook reading; only 6% of students responded that case studies helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” compared with 8% for class discussions and 21% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2B ). When the same question was posed about the ability to communicate orally, 81% of students responded that case studies help a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 68% for class discussions and 50% for textbook reading, while the respective response rates for helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” were 4%, 6%, and 25% ( Fig. 2C ). The differences in learning gains associated with both written and oral communication were statistically significant when completion of case studies was compared with either participation in class discussion or completion of textbook readings. Compared with textbook reading, class discussions led to a statistically significant increase in oral but not written communication skills.

Students were then asked how much each of the methods helped them “understand the connections between scientific concepts and other aspects of your everyday life.” A total of 79% of respondents declared that case studies help a “good” or “great” amount, compared with 70% for class discussions and 57% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2D ). Only 4% stated that case studies and class discussions helped a “small amount” or “provided no help,” compared with 21% for textbook reading ( Fig. 2D ). Similar to overall learning gains, the use of case studies significantly increased the ability to understand the relevance of science to everyday life compared with class discussion and textbook readings, while the difference in learning gains associated with participation in class discussion compared with textbook reading was not statistically significant ( p = 0.054).

Student perceptions of learning gains resulting from case study teaching are positively correlated to increased performance on examinations, but independent of case study author

To test the hypothesis that case studies produced specifically for this course by the instructor were more effective at promoting learning gains than topically relevant case studies published by authors not associated with this course, perceptions of learning gains were compared for each of the case studies. For both of the case studies produced by the instructor of the course, 87% of students indicated that the case study provided a “good” or “great” amount of help to their learning, and 2% indicated that the case studies provided “little” or “no” help ( Table 1 ). In comparison, an average of 85% of students indicated that the case studies produced by an unaffiliated instructor provided a “good” or “great” amount of help to their learning, and 4% indicated that the case studies provided “little” or “no” help ( Table 1 ). The instructor-produced case studies yielded both the highest and lowest percentage of students reporting the highest level of learning gains (a “great” amount), while case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors yielded intermediate values. Therefore, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning gains is not significantly affected by whether or not the course instructor authored the case study.

Case studies positively affect student perceptions of learning gains about various biological topics.

Finally, to determine whether performance on examination questions accurately predicts student perceptions of learning gains, mean scores on examination questions related to case studies were compared with reported perceptions of learning gains for those case studies ( Fig. 3 ). The coefficient of determination (R 2 value) was 0.81, indicating a strong, but not definitive, positive correlation between perceptions of learning gains and performance on examinations, suggesting that student perception of learning gains is a valid tool for assessing the effectiveness of case studies ( Fig. 3 ). This correlation was independent of case study author.

Perception of learning gains but not author of case study is positively correlated to score on related examination questions. Percentage of students reporting that each specific case study provided “a great amount of help” to their learning was plotted against the point difference between mean score on examination questions related to that case study and mean score on paired control questions. Positive point differences indicate how much higher the mean scores on case study-related questions were than the mean scores on paired control questions. Black squares represent case studies produced by the instructor of the course; white squares represent case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors. R 2 value indicates the coefficient of determination.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that teaching with case studies produced by the instructor of a course is more effective at promoting learning gains than using case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors. This study also tested the hypothesis that the case study teaching method is more effective than class discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning gains associated with four of the most commonly taught topics in undergraduate general biology courses: chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. In addition to assessing content-based learning gains, development of written and oral communication skills and the ability to connect scientific topics with real-world applications was also assessed, because these skills were overarching learning objectives of this course, and classroom activities related to both case studies and control lessons were designed to provide opportunities for students to develop these skills. Finally, data were analyzed to determine whether performance on examination questions is positively correlated to student perceptions of learning gains resulting from case study teaching.

Compared with equivalent control questions about topics of similar complexity taught using class discussions and textbook readings, all four case studies produced statistically significant increases in the mean score on examination questions ( Fig. 1 ). This indicates that case studies are more effective than more commonly used, traditional methods of content delivery at promoting learning of a variety of core concepts covered in general biology courses. The average increase in score on each test item was equivalent to nearly two letter grades, which is substantial enough to elevate the average student performance on test items from the unsatisfactory/failing range to the satisfactory/passing range. The finding that there was no statistical difference between case studies in terms of performance on examination questions suggests that case studies are equally effective at promoting learning of disparate topics in biology. The observations that students did not perform significantly less well on the first case study presented (chemical bonds) compared with the other case studies and that performance on examination questions did not progressively increase with each successive case study suggests that the effectiveness of case studies is not directly related to the amount of experience students have using case studies. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence from previous semesters of this course suggests that, of the four topics addressed by cases in this study, DNA structure and function and osmosis and diffusion are the first and second most difficult for students to grasp. The lack of a statistical difference between case studies therefore suggests that the effectiveness of a case study at promoting learning gains is not directly proportional to the difficulty of the concept covered. However, the finding that use of the osmosis and diffusion case study resulted in the greatest increase in examination performance compared with control questions and also produced the highest student perceptions of learning gains is noteworthy and could be attributed to the fact that it was the only case study evaluated that included a hands-on experiment. Because the inclusion of a hands-on kinetic activity may synergistically enhance student engagement and learning and result in an even greater increase in learning gains than case studies that lack this type of activity, it is recommended that case studies that incorporate this type of activity be preferentially utilized.

Student perceptions of learning gains are strongly motivating factors for engagement in the classroom and academic performance, so it is important to assess the effect of any teaching method in this context ( 19 , 24 ). A modified version of the SALG course evaluation tool was used to assess student perceptions of learning gains because it has been previously validated as an efficacious tool ( Appendix 2 ) ( 20 ). Using the SALG tool, case study teaching was demonstrated to significantly increase student perceptions of overall learning gains compared with class discussions and textbook reading ( Fig. 2A ). Case studies were shown to be particularly useful for promoting perceived development of written and oral communication skills and for demonstrating connections between scientific topics and real-world issues and applications ( Figs. 2B–2D ). Further, student perceptions of “great” learning gains positively correlated with increased performance on examination questions, indicating that assessment of learning gains using the SALG tool is both valid and useful in this course setting ( Fig. 3 ). These findings also suggest that case study teaching could be used to increase student motivation and engagement in classroom activities and thus promote learning and performance on assessments. The finding that textbook reading yielded the lowest student perceptions of learning gains was not unexpected, since reading facilitates passive learning while the class discussions and case studies were both designed to promote active learning.

Importantly, there was no statistical difference in student performance on examinations attributed to the two case studies produced by the instructor of the course compared with the two case studies produced by unaffiliated instructors. The average difference between the two instructor-produced case studies and the two case studies published by unaffiliated instructors was only 3% in terms of both the average score on examination questions (76% compared with 73%) and the average increase in score compared with paired control items (14% compared with 17%) ( Fig. 1 ). Even when considering the inherent qualitative differences of course grades, these differences are negligible. Similarly, the effectiveness of case studies at promoting learning gains was not significantly affected by the origin of the case study, as evidenced by similar percentages of students reporting “good” and “great” learning gains regardless of whether the case study was produced by the course instructor or an unaffiliated instructor ( Table 1 ).

The observation that case studies published by unaffiliated instructors are just as effective as those produced by the instructor of a course suggests that instructors can reasonably rely on the use of pre-published case studies relevant to their class rather than investing the considerable time and effort required to produce a novel case study. Case studies covering a wide range of topics in the sciences are available from a number of sources, and many of them are free access. The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) database ( http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/ ) contains over 500 case studies that are freely available to instructors, and are accompanied by teaching notes that provide logistical advice and additional resources for implementing the case study, as well as a set of assessment questions with a password-protected answer key. Case study repositories are also maintained by BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium ( http://www.bioquest.org/icbl/cases.php ) and the Science Case Network ( http://sciencecasenet.org ); both are available for use by instructors from outside institutions.

It should be noted that all case studies used in this study were rigorously peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by the NCCSTS prior to the completion of this study ( 2 , 10 , 18 , 25 ); the conclusions of this study may not apply to case studies that were not developed in accordance with similar standards. Because case study teaching involves skills such as creative writing and management of dynamic group discussion in a way that is not commonly integrated into many other teaching methods, it is recommended that novice case study teachers seek training or guidance before writing their first case study or implementing the method. The lack of a difference observed in the use of case studies from different sources should be interpreted with some degree of caution since only two sources were represented in this study, and each by only two cases. Furthermore, in an educational setting, quantitative differences in test scores might produce meaningful qualitative differences in course grades even in the absence of a p value that is statistically significant. For example, there is a meaningful qualitative difference between test scores that result in an average grade of C− and test scores that result in an average grade of C+, even if there is no statistically significant difference between the two sets of scores.

In the future, it could be informative to confirm these findings using a larger cohort, by repeating the study at different institutions with different instructors, by evaluating different case studies, and by directly comparing the effectiveness of the case studying teaching method with additional forms of instruction, such as traditional chalkboard and slide-based lecturing, and laboratory-based activities. It may also be informative to examine whether demographic factors such as student age and gender modulate the effectiveness of the case study teaching method, and whether case studies work equally well for non-science majors taking a science course compared with those majoring in the subject. Since the topical material used in this study is often included in other classes in both high school and undergraduate education, such as cell biology, genetics, and chemistry, the conclusions of this study are directly applicable to a broad range of courses. Presently, it is recommended that the use of case studies in teaching undergraduate general biology and other science courses be expanded, especially for the teaching of capacious issues with real-world applications and in classes where development of written and oral communication skills are key objectives. The use of case studies that involve hands-on activities should be emphasized to maximize the benefit of this teaching method. Importantly, instructors can be confident in the use of pre-published case studies to promote learning, as there is no indication that the effectiveness of the case study teaching method is reliant on the production of novel, customized case studies for each course.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

Acknowledgments.

This article benefitted from a President’s Faculty Innovation Grant, Kingsborough Community College. The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.

† Supplemental materials available at http://jmbe.asm.org

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Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

• Case Based Learning

What is the case method?

In case-based learning, students learn to interact with and manipulate basic foundational knowledge by working with situations resembling specific real-world scenarios.

How does it work?

Case studies encourage students to use critical thinking skills to identify and narrow an issue, develop and evaluate alternatives, and offer a solution.  In fact, Nkhoma (2016), who studied the value of developing case-based learning activities based on Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking skills, suggests that this approach encourages deep learning through critical thinking:

Sherfield (2004) confirms this, asserting that working through case studies can begin to build and expand these six critical thinking strategies:

• Emotional restraint
• Questioning
• Distinguishing fact from fiction
• Searching for ambiguity

What makes a good case?

Case-based learning can focus on anything from a one-sentence physics word problem to a textbook-sized nursing case or a semester-long case in a law course.  Though we often assume that a case is a “problem,” Ellet (2007) suggests that most cases entail one of four types of situations:

• Evaluations
• What are the facts you know about the case?
• What are some logical assumptions you can make about the case?
• What are the problems involved in the case as you see it?
• What is the root problem (the main issue)?
• What do you estimate is the cause of the root problem?
• What are the reasons that the root problem exists?
• What is the solution to the problem?
• Are there any moral or ethical considerations to your solution?
• What are the real-world implications for this case?
• How might the lives of the people in the case study be changed because of your proposed solution?
• Where in your world (campus/town/country) might a problem like this occur?
• Where could someone get help with this problem?
• What personal advice would you give to the person or people concerned?

Adapted from Sherfield’s Case Studies for the First Year (2004)

Some faculty buy prepared cases from publishers, but many create their own based on their unique course needs.  When introducing case-based learning to students, be sure to offer a series of guidelines or questions to prompt deep thinking.  One option is to provide a scenario followed by questions; for example, questions designed for a first year experience problem might include these:

Before you begin, take a look at what others are doing with cases in your field.  Pre-made case studies are available from various publishers, and you can find case-study templates online.

• Choose scenarios carefully
• Tell a story from beginning to end, including many details
• Create real-life characters and use quotes when possible
• Write clearly and concisely and format the writing simply
• Ask students to reflect on their learning—perhaps identifying connections between the lesson and specific course learning outcomes—after working a case

Additional Resources

• Barnes, Louis B. et al. Teaching and the Case Method , 3 rd (1994). Harvard, 1994.
• Campoy, Renee. Case Study Analysis in the Classroom: Becoming a Reflective Teacher . Sage Publications, 2005.
• Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook . Harvard, 2007.
• Herreid, Clyde Freeman, ed. Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science . NSTA, 2007.
• Herreid, Clyde Freeman, et al. Science Stories: Using Case Studies to Teach Critical Thinking . NSTA, 2012.
• Nkhoma, M., Lam, et al. Developing case-based learning activities based on the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy . Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Education Conference (In SITE) 2016, 85-93. 2016.
• Rolls, Geoff. Classic Case Studies in Psychology , 3 rd Hodder Education, Bookpoint, 2014.
• Sherfield, Robert M., et al. Case Studies for the First Year . Pearson, 2004.
• Shulman, Judith H., ed. Case Methods in Teacher Education . Teacher’s College, 1992.

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Case Method Teaching and Learning

What is the case method? How can the case method be used to engage learners? What are some strategies for getting started? This guide helps instructors answer these questions by providing an overview of the case method while highlighting learner-centered and digitally-enhanced approaches to teaching with the case method. The guide also offers tips to instructors as they get started with the case method and additional references and resources.

On this page:

What is case method teaching.

• Case Method at Columbia

Why use the Case Method?

Case method teaching approaches, how do i get started.

• Additional Resources

The CTL is here to help!

For support with implementing a case method approach in your course, email [email protected] to schedule your 1-1 consultation .

Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2019). Case Method Teaching and Learning. Columbia University. Retrieved from [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/case-method/  

Case method 1 teaching is an active form of instruction that focuses on a case and involves students learning by doing 2 3 . Cases are real or invented stories 4  that include “an educational message” or recount events, problems, dilemmas, theoretical or conceptual issue that requires analysis and/or decision-making.

Case-based teaching simulates real world situations and asks students to actively grapple with complex problems 5 6 This method of instruction is used across disciplines to promote learning, and is common in law, business, medicine, among other fields. See Table 1 below for a few types of cases and the learning they promote.

Table 1: Types of cases and the learning they promote.

For a more complete list, see Case Types & Teaching Methods: A Classification Scheme from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science.

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Case Method Teaching and Learning at Columbia

The case method is actively used in classrooms across Columbia, at the Morningside campus in the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, among others, and at Columbia University Irving Medical campus.

Faculty Spotlight:

Professor Mary Ann Price on Using Case Study Method to Place Pre-Med Students in Real-Life Scenarios

Read more  

Professor De Pinho on Using the Case Method in the Mailman Core

Case method teaching has been found to improve student learning, to increase students’ perception of learning gains, and to meet learning objectives 8 9 . Faculty have noted the instructional benefits of cases including greater student engagement in their learning 10 , deeper student understanding of concepts, stronger critical thinking skills, and an ability to make connections across content areas and view an issue from multiple perspectives 11 . 

Through case-based learning, students are the ones asking questions about the case, doing the problem-solving, interacting with and learning from their peers, “unpacking” the case, analyzing the case, and summarizing the case. They learn how to work with limited information and ambiguity, think in professional or disciplinary ways, and ask themselves “what would I do if I were in this specific situation?”

The case method bridges theory to practice, and promotes the development of skills including: communication, active listening, critical thinking, decision-making, and metacognitive skills 12 , as students apply course content knowledge, reflect on what they know and their approach to analyzing, and make sense of a case. 

Though the case method has historical roots as an instructor-centered approach that uses the Socratic dialogue and cold-calling, it is possible to take a more learner-centered approach in which students take on roles and tasks traditionally left to the instructor. 

Cases are often used as “vehicles for classroom discussion” 13 . Students should be encouraged to take ownership of their learning from a case. Discussion-based approaches engage students in thinking and communicating about a case. Instructors can set up a case activity in which students are the ones doing the work of “asking questions, summarizing content, generating hypotheses, proposing theories, or offering critical analyses” 14 . 

The role of the instructor is to share a case or ask students to share or create a case to use in class, set expectations, provide instructions, and assign students roles in the discussion. Student roles in a case discussion can include: 

• discussion “starters” get the conversation started with a question or posing the questions that their peers came up with; 
• facilitators listen actively, validate the contributions of peers, ask follow-up questions, draw connections, refocus the conversation as needed; 
• recorders take-notes of the main points of the discussion, record on the board, upload to CourseWorks, or type and project on the screen; and 
• discussion “wrappers” lead a summary of the main points of the discussion. 

Prior to the case discussion, instructors can model case analysis and the types of questions students should ask, co-create discussion guidelines with students, and ask for students to submit discussion questions. During the discussion, the instructor can keep time, intervene as necessary (however the students should be doing the talking), and pause the discussion for a debrief and to ask students to reflect on what and how they learned from the case activity. 

Note: case discussions can be enhanced using technology. Live discussions can occur via video-conferencing (e.g., using Zoom ) or asynchronous discussions can occur using the Discussions tool in CourseWorks (Canvas) .

Table 2 includes a few interactive case method approaches. Regardless of the approach selected, it is important to create a learning environment in which students feel comfortable participating in a case activity and learning from one another. See below for tips on supporting student in how to learn from a case in the “getting started” section and how to create a supportive learning environment in the Guide for Inclusive Teaching at Columbia . 

Table 2. Strategies for Engaging Students in Case-Based Learning

Approaches to case teaching should be informed by course learning objectives, and can be adapted for small, large, hybrid, and online classes. Instructional technology can be used in various ways to deliver, facilitate, and assess the case method. For instance, an online module can be created in CourseWorks (Canvas) to structure the delivery of the case, allow students to work at their own pace, engage all learners, even those reluctant to speak up in class, and assess understanding of a case and student learning. Modules can include text, embedded media (e.g., using Panopto or Mediathread ) curated by the instructor, online discussion, and assessments. Students can be asked to read a case and/or watch a short video, respond to quiz questions and receive immediate feedback, post questions to a discussion, and share resources. 

For more information about options for incorporating educational technology to your course, please contact your Learning Designer .

To ensure that students are learning from the case approach, ask them to pause and reflect on what and how they learned from the case. Time to reflect  builds your students’ metacognition, and when these reflections are collected they provides you with insights about the effectiveness of your approach in promoting student learning.

Well designed case-based learning experiences: 1) motivate student involvement, 2) have students doing the work, 3) help students develop knowledge and skills, and 4) have students learning from each other.  

Designing a case-based learning experience should center around the learning objectives for a course. The following points focus on intentional design. 

Identify learning objectives, determine scope, and anticipate challenges. 

• Why use the case method in your course? How will it promote student learning differently than other approaches? 
• What are the learning objectives that need to be met by the case method? What knowledge should students apply and skills should they practice? 
• What is the scope of the case? (a brief activity in a single class session to a semester-long case-based course; if new to case method, start small with a single case). 
• What challenges do you anticipate (e.g., student preparation and prior experiences with case learning, discomfort with discussion, peer-to-peer learning, managing discussion) and how will you plan for these in your design? 
• If you are asking students to use transferable skills for the case method (e.g., teamwork, digital literacy) make them explicit. 

Determine how you will know if the learning objectives were met and develop a plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the case method to inform future case teaching. 

• What assessments and criteria will you use to evaluate student work or participation in case discussion? 
• How will you evaluate the effectiveness of the case method? What feedback will you collect from students? 
• How might you leverage technology for assessment purposes? For example, could you quiz students about the case online before class, accept assignment submissions online, use audience response systems (e.g., PollEverywhere) for formative assessment during class? 

Select an existing case, create your own, or encourage students to bring course-relevant cases, and prepare for its delivery

• Where will the case method fit into the course learning sequence? 
• Is the case at the appropriate level of complexity? Is it inclusive, culturally relevant, and relatable to students? 
• What materials and preparation will be needed to present the case to students? (e.g., readings, audiovisual materials, set up a module in CourseWorks). 

Plan for the case discussion and an active role for students

• What will your role be in facilitating case-based learning? How will you model case analysis for your students? (e.g., present a short case and demo your approach and the process of case learning) (Davis, 2009). 
• What discussion guidelines will you use that include your students’ input? 
• How will you encourage students to ask and answer questions, summarize their work, take notes, and debrief the case? 
• If students will be working in groups, how will groups form? What size will the groups be? What instructions will they be given? How will you ensure that everyone participates? What will they need to submit? Can technology be leveraged for any of these areas? 
• Have you considered students of varied cognitive and physical abilities and how they might participate in the activities/discussions, including those that involve technology? 

Student preparation and expectations

• How will you communicate about the case method approach to your students? When will you articulate the purpose of case-based learning and expectations of student engagement? What information about case-based learning and expectations will be included in the syllabus?
• What preparation and/or assignment(s) will students complete in order to learn from the case? (e.g., read the case prior to class, watch a case video prior to class, post to a CourseWorks discussion, submit a brief memo, complete a short writing assignment to check students’ understanding of a case, take on a specific role, prepare to present a critique during in-class discussion).

Andersen, E. and Schiano, B. (2014). Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide . Harvard Business Press. 

Bonney, K. M. (2015). Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains†. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education , 16 (1), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.846

Davis, B.G. (2009). Chapter 24: Case Studies. In Tools for Teaching. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. 

Garvin, D.A. (2003). Making the Case: Professional Education for the world of practice. Harvard Magazine. September-October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1, 56-107.

Golich, V.L. (2000). The ABCs of Case Teaching. International Studies Perspectives. 1, 11-29. 

Golich, V.L.; Boyer, M; Franko, P.; and Lamy, S. (2000). The ABCs of Case Teaching. Pew Case Studies in International Affairs. Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. 

Heath, J. (2015). Teaching & Writing Cases: A Practical Guide. The Case Center, UK. 

Herreid, C.F. (2011). Case Study Teaching. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. No. 128, Winder 2011, 31 – 40. 

Herreid, C.F. (2007). Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science . National Science Teachers Association. Available as an ebook through Columbia Libraries. 

Herreid, C.F. (2006). “Clicker” Cases: Introducing Case Study Teaching Into Large Classrooms. Journal of College Science Teaching. Oct 2006, 36(2). https://search.proquest.com/docview/200323718?pq-origsite=gscholar  

Krain, M. (2016). Putting the Learning in Case Learning? The Effects of Case-Based Approaches on Student Knowledge, Attitudes, and Engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. 27(2), 131-153. 

Lundberg, K.O. (Ed.). (2011). Our Digital Future: Boardrooms and Newsrooms. Knight Case Studies Initiative. 

Popil, I. (2011). Promotion of critical thinking by using case studies as teaching method. Nurse Education Today, 31(2), 204–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.002

Schiano, B. and Andersen, E. (2017). Teaching with Cases Online . Harvard Business Publishing. 

Thistlethwaite, JE; Davies, D.; Ekeocha, S.; Kidd, J.M.; MacDougall, C.; Matthews, P.; Purkis, J.; Clay D. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education: A BEME systematic review . Medical Teacher. 2012; 34(6): e421-44. 

Yadav, A.; Lundeberg, M.; DeSchryver, M.; Dirkin, K.; Schiller, N.A.; Maier, K. and Herreid, C.F. (2007). Teaching Science with Case Studies: A National Survey of Faculty Perceptions of the Benefits and Challenges of Using Cases. Journal of College Science Teaching; Sept/Oct 2007; 37(1). 

Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass.

Additional resources 

Teaching with Cases , Harvard Kennedy School of Government. 

Features “what is a teaching case?” video that defines a teaching case, and provides documents to help students prepare for case learning, Common case teaching challenges and solutions, tips for teaching with cases. 

Promoting excellence and innovation in case method teaching: Teaching by the Case Method , Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning. Harvard Business School. 

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science . University of Buffalo. 

A collection of peer-reviewed STEM cases to teach scientific concepts and content, promote process skills and critical thinking. The Center welcomes case submissions. Case classification scheme of case types and teaching methods:

• Different types of cases: analysis case, dilemma/decision case, directed case, interrupted case, clicker case, a flipped case, a laboratory case. 
• Different types of teaching methods: problem-based learning, discussion, debate, intimate debate, public hearing, trial, jigsaw, role-play. 

Columbia Resources

Resources available to support your use of case method: The University hosts a number of case collections including: the Case Consortium (a collection of free cases in the fields of journalism, public policy, public health, and other disciplines that include teaching and learning resources; SIPA’s Picker Case Collection (audiovisual case studies on public sector innovation, filmed around the world and involving SIPA student teams in producing the cases); and Columbia Business School CaseWorks , which develops teaching cases and materials for use in Columbia Business School classrooms.

Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers a variety of programs and services for instructors at Columbia. The CTL can provide customized support as you plan to use the case method approach through implementation. Schedule a one-on-one consultation. 

Office of the Provost

The Hybrid Learning Course Redesign grant program from the Office of the Provost provides support for faculty who are developing innovative and technology-enhanced pedagogy and learning strategies in the classroom. In addition to funding, faculty awardees receive support from CTL staff as they redesign, deliver, and evaluate their hybrid courses.

The Start Small! Mini-Grant provides support to faculty who are interested in experimenting with one new pedagogical strategy or tool. Faculty awardees receive funds and CTL support for a one-semester period.

Explore our teaching resources.

• Blended Learning
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• Inclusive Teaching Guide
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CTL resources and technology for you.

• Overview of all CTL Resources and Technology
• The origins of this method can be traced to Harvard University where in 1870 the Law School began using cases to teach students how to think like lawyers using real court decisions. This was followed by the Business School in 1920 (Garvin, 2003). These professional schools recognized that lecture mode of instruction was insufficient to teach critical professional skills, and that active learning would better prepare learners for their professional lives. ↩
• Golich, V.L. (2000). The ABCs of Case Teaching. International Studies Perspectives. 1, 11-29. ↩
• Herreid, C.F. (2007). Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science . National Science Teachers Association. Available as an ebook through Columbia Libraries. ↩
• Davis, B.G. (2009). Chapter 24: Case Studies. In Tools for Teaching. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. ↩
• Andersen, E. and Schiano, B. (2014). Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide . Harvard Business Press. ↩
• Lundberg, K.O. (Ed.). (2011). Our Digital Future: Boardrooms and Newsrooms. Knight Case Studies Initiative. ↩
• Heath, J. (2015). Teaching & Writing Cases: A Practical Guide. The Case Center, UK. ↩
• Bonney, K. M. (2015). Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains†. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education , 16 (1), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.846 ↩
• Krain, M. (2016). Putting the Learning in Case Learning? The Effects of Case-Based Approaches on Student Knowledge, Attitudes, and Engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. 27(2), 131-153. ↩
• Thistlethwaite, JE; Davies, D.; Ekeocha, S.; Kidd, J.M.; MacDougall, C.; Matthews, P.; Purkis, J.; Clay D. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education: A BEME systematic review . Medical Teacher. 2012; 34(6): e421-44. ↩
• Yadav, A.; Lundeberg, M.; DeSchryver, M.; Dirkin, K.; Schiller, N.A.; Maier, K. and Herreid, C.F. (2007). Teaching Science with Case Studies: A National Survey of Faculty Perceptions of the Benefits and Challenges of Using Cases. Journal of College Science Teaching; Sept/Oct 2007; 37(1). ↩
• Popil, I. (2011). Promotion of critical thinking by using case studies as teaching method. Nurse Education Today, 31(2), 204–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.002 ↩
• Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. ↩
• Herreid, C.F. (2006). “Clicker” Cases: Introducing Case Study Teaching Into Large Classrooms. Journal of College Science Teaching. Oct 2006, 36(2). https://search.proquest.com/docview/200323718?pq-origsite=gscholar ↩

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Center for Teaching

Case studies.

Print Version

Case studies are stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible. Various disciplines have employed case studies, including humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, law, business, and medicine. Good cases generally have the following features: they tell a good story, are recent, include dialogue, create empathy with the main characters, are relevant to the reader, serve a teaching function, require a dilemma to be solved, and have generality.

Instructors can create their own cases or can find cases that already exist. The following are some things to keep in mind when creating a case:

• What do you want students to learn from the discussion of the case?
• What do they already know that applies to the case?
• What are the issues that may be raised in discussion?
• How will the case and discussion be introduced?
• What preparation is expected of students? (Do they need to read the case ahead of time? Do research? Write anything?)
• What directions do you need to provide students regarding what they are supposed to do and accomplish?
• Do you need to divide students into groups or will they discuss as the whole class?
• Are you going to use role-playing or facilitators or record keepers? If so, how?
• What are the opening questions?
• How much time is needed for students to discuss the case?
• What concepts are to be applied/extracted during the discussion?
• How will you evaluate students?

To find other cases that already exist, try the following websites:

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science , University of Buffalo. SUNY-Buffalo maintains this set of links to other case studies on the web in disciplines ranging from engineering and ethics to sociology and business
• A Journal of Teaching Cases in Public Administration and Public Policy , University of Washington

For more information:

• World Association for Case Method Research and Application

Book Review :  Teaching and the Case Method , 3rd ed., vols. 1 and 2, by Louis Barnes, C. Roland (Chris) Christensen, and Abby Hansen. Harvard Business School Press, 1994; 333 pp. (vol 1), 412 pp. (vol 2).

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Case-Based Learning

This guide explores what case studies are, the value of using case studies as teaching tools, and how to implement them in your teaching.

What are case studies?

Case studies are stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible. Various disciplines have employed case studies, including humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, law, business, and medicine. Good cases generally have the following features: they tell a good story, are recent, include dialogue, create empathy with the main characters, are relevant to the reader, serve a teaching function, require a dilemma to be solved, and have generality.

How to use cases for teaching and learning

Instructors can create their own cases or can find cases that already exist. The following are some things to keep in mind when creating a case:

• What do you want students to learn from the discussion of the case?
• What do they already know that applies to the case?
• What are the issues that may be raised in discussion?
• How will the case and discussion be introduced?
• What preparation is expected of students? (Do they need to read the case ahead of time? Do research? Write anything?)
• What directions do you need to provide students regarding what they are supposed to do and accomplish?
• Do you need to divide students into groups or will they discuss as the whole class?
• Are you going to use role-playing or facilitators or record keepers? If so, how?
• What are the opening questions?
• How much time is needed for students to discuss the case?
• What concepts are to be applied/extracted during the discussion?
• How will you evaluate students?

To find other cases that already exist, try the following websites (if you know of other examples, please let us know and we will add them to this resource) :

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science , University of Buffalo. SUNY-Buffalo maintains this set of links to other case studies on the web in disciplines ranging from engineering and ethics to sociology and business
• A Journal of Teaching Cases in Public Administration and Public Policy, University of Washington
• The American Anthropological Association’s Handbook on Ethical Issues in Anthropology , Chapter 3: Cases & Solutions  provides cases  in a format that asks the reader to solve each dilemma and includes the solutions used by the actual anthropologists. Comments by anthropologists who disagreed with the “solution” are also provided.

Additional information

• Teaching with Cases , Harvard Kennedy School
• World Association for Case Method Research and Application
• Case-Based Teaching & Problem-Based Learning , UMich
• What is Case-Based Learning , Queens University

You may also be interested in:

Project-based learning, game-based learning & gamification, experiential learning resources for faculty: introduction, partnerships in experiential learning: faq, designing experiential learning projects, experiential learning for graduate students, reflection for experiential learning, assessment for experiential learning.

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Case-based learning.

Case-based learning (CBL) is an established approach used across disciplines where students apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios, promoting higher levels of cognition (see Bloom’s Taxonomy ). In CBL classrooms, students typically work in groups on case studies, stories involving one or more characters and/or scenarios.  The cases present a disciplinary problem or problems for which students devise solutions under the guidance of the instructor. CBL has a strong history of successful implementation in medical, law, and business schools, and is increasingly used within undergraduate education, particularly within pre-professional majors and the sciences (Herreid, 1994). This method involves guided inquiry and is grounded in constructivism whereby students form new meanings by interacting with their knowledge and the environment (Lee, 2012).

There are a number of benefits to using CBL in the classroom. In a review of the literature, Williams (2005) describes how CBL: utilizes collaborative learning, facilitates the integration of learning, develops students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to learn, encourages learner self-reflection and critical reflection, allows for scientific inquiry, integrates knowledge and practice, and supports the development of a variety of learning skills.

CBL has several defining characteristics, including versatility, storytelling power, and efficient self-guided learning.  In a systematic analysis of 104 articles in health professions education, CBL was found to be utilized in courses with less than 50 to over 1000 students (Thistlethwaite et al., 2012). In these classrooms, group sizes ranged from 1 to 30, with most consisting of 2 to 15 students.  Instructors varied in the proportion of time they implemented CBL in the classroom, ranging from one case spanning two hours of classroom time, to year-long case-based courses. These findings demonstrate that instructors use CBL in a variety of ways in their classrooms.

The stories that comprise the framework of case studies are also a key component to CBL’s effectiveness. Jonassen and Hernandez-Serrano (2002, p.66) describe how storytelling:

Is a method of negotiating and renegotiating meanings that allows us to enter into other’s realms of meaning through messages they utter in their stories,

Helps us find our place in a culture,

Allows us to explicate and to interpret, and

Facilitates the attainment of vicarious experience by helping us to distinguish the positive models to emulate from the negative model.

Neurochemically, listening to stories can activate oxytocin, a hormone that increases one’s sensitivity to social cues, resulting in more empathy, generosity, compassion and trustworthiness (Zak, 2013; Kosfeld et al., 2005). The stories within case studies serve as a means by which learners form new understandings through characters and/or scenarios.

CBL is often described in conjunction or in comparison with problem-based learning (PBL). While the lines are often confusingly blurred within the literature, in the most conservative of definitions, the features distinguishing the two approaches include that PBL involves open rather than guided inquiry, is less structured, and the instructor plays a more passive role. In PBL multiple solutions to the problem may exit, but the problem is often initially not well-defined. PBL also has a stronger emphasis on developing self-directed learning. The choice between implementing CBL versus PBL is highly dependent on the goals and context of the instruction.  For example, in a comparison of PBL and CBL approaches during a curricular shift at two medical schools, students and faculty preferred CBL to PBL (Srinivasan et al., 2007). Students perceived CBL to be a more efficient process and more clinically applicable. However, in another context, PBL might be the favored approach.

In a review of the effectiveness of CBL in health profession education, Thistlethwaite et al. (2012), found several benefits:

Students enjoyed the method and thought it enhanced their learning,

Instructors liked how CBL engaged students in learning,

CBL seemed to facilitate small group learning, but the authors could not distinguish between whether it was the case itself or the small group learning that occurred as facilitated by the case.

Other studies have also reported on the effectiveness of CBL in achieving learning outcomes (Bonney, 2015; Breslin, 2008; Herreid, 2013; Krain, 2016). These findings suggest that CBL is a vehicle of engagement for instruction, and facilitates an environment whereby students can construct knowledge.

Science – Students are given a scenario to which they apply their basic science knowledge and problem-solving skills to help them solve the case. One example within the biological sciences is two brothers who have a family history of a genetic illness. They each have mutations within a particular sequence in their DNA. Students work through the case and draw conclusions about the biological impacts of these mutations using basic science. Sample cases: You are Not the Mother of Your Children ; Organic Chemisty and Your Cellphone: Organic Light-Emitting Diodes ;   A Light on Physics: F-Number and Exposure Time

Medicine – Medical or pre-health students read about a patient presenting with specific symptoms. Students decide which questions are important to ask the patient in their medical history, how long they have experienced such symptoms, etc. The case unfolds and students use clinical reasoning, propose relevant tests, develop a differential diagnoses and a plan of treatment. Sample cases: The Case of the Crying Baby: Surgical vs. Medical Management ; The Plan: Ethics and Physician Assisted Suicide ; The Haemophilus Vaccine: A Victory for Immunologic Engineering

Public Health – A case study describes a pandemic of a deadly infectious disease. Students work through the case to identify Patient Zero, the person who was the first to spread the disease, and how that individual became infected.  Sample cases: The Protective Parent ; The Elusive Tuberculosis Case: The CDC and Andrew Speaker ; Credible Voice: WHO-Beijing and the SARS Crisis

Law – A case study presents a legal dilemma for which students use problem solving to decide the best way to advise and defend a client. Students are presented information that changes during the case.  Sample cases: Mortgage Crisis Call (abstract) ; The Case of the Unpaid Interns (abstract) ; Police-Community Dialogue (abstract)

Business – Students work on a case study that presents the history of a business success or failure. They apply business principles learned in the classroom and assess why the venture was successful or not. Sample cases: SELCO-Determining a path forward ; Project Masiluleke: Texting and Testing to Fight HIV/AIDS in South Africa ; Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Healthcare

Humanities - Students consider a case that presents a theater facing financial and management difficulties. They apply business and theater principles learned in the classroom to the case, working together to create solutions for the theater. Sample cases: David Geffen School of Drama

Recommendations

Finding and Writing Cases

Consider utilizing or adapting open access cases - The availability of open resources and databases containing cases that instructors can download makes this approach even more accessible in the classroom. Two examples of open databases are the Case Center on Public Leadership and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Case Program , which focus on government, leadership and public policy case studies.

• Consider writing original cases - In the event that an instructor is unable to find open access cases relevant to their course learning objectives, they may choose to write their own. See the following resources on case writing: Cooking with Betty Crocker: A Recipe for Case Writing ; The Way of Flesch: The Art of Writing Readable Cases ;   Twixt Fact and Fiction: A Case Writer’s Dilemma ; And All That Jazz: An Essay Extolling the Virtues of Writing Case Teaching Notes .

Implementing Cases

Take baby steps if new to CBL - While entire courses and curricula may involve case-based learning, instructors who desire to implement on a smaller-scale can integrate a single case into their class, and increase the number of cases utilized over time as desired.

Use cases in classes that are small, medium or large - Cases can be scaled to any course size. In large classes with stadium seating, students can work with peers nearby, while in small classes with more flexible seating arrangements, teams can move their chairs closer together. CBL can introduce more noise (and energy) in the classroom to which an instructor often quickly becomes accustomed. Further, students can be asked to work on cases outside of class, and wrap up discussion during the next class meeting.

Encourage collaborative work - Cases present an opportunity for students to work together to solve cases which the historical literature supports as beneficial to student learning (Bruffee, 1993). Allow students to work in groups to answer case questions.

Form diverse teams as feasible - When students work within diverse teams they can be exposed to a variety of perspectives that can help them solve the case. Depending on the context of the course, priorities, and the background information gathered about the students enrolled in the class, instructors may choose to organize student groups to allow for diversity in factors such as current course grades, gender, race/ethnicity, personality, among other items.  

Use stable teams as appropriate - If CBL is a large component of the course, a research-supported practice is to keep teams together long enough to go through the stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman, 1965).

Walk around to guide groups - In CBL instructors serve as facilitators of student learning. Walking around allows the instructor to monitor student progress as well as identify and support any groups that may be struggling. Teaching assistants can also play a valuable role in supporting groups.

Interrupt strategically - Only every so often, for conversation in large group discussion of the case, especially when students appear confused on key concepts. An effective practice to help students meet case learning goals is to guide them as a whole group when the class is ready. This may include selecting a few student groups to present answers to discussion questions to the entire class, asking the class a question relevant to the case using polling software, and/or performing a mini-lesson on an area that appears to be confusing among students.  

Assess student learning in multiple ways - Students can be assessed informally by asking groups to report back answers to various case questions. This practice also helps students stay on task, and keeps them accountable. Cases can also be included on exams using related scenarios where students are asked to apply their knowledge.

Barrows HS. (1996). Problem-based learning in medicine and beyond: a brief overview. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 68, 3-12.  

Bonney KM. (2015). Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 16(1): 21-28.

Breslin M, Buchanan, R. (2008) On the Case Study Method of Research and Teaching in Design.  Design Issues, 24(1), 36-40.

Bruffee KS. (1993). Collaborative learning: Higher education, interdependence, and authority of knowledge. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.

Herreid CF. (2013). Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science, edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid. Originally published in 2006 by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA); reprinted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) in 2013.

Herreid CH. (1994). Case studies in science: A novel method of science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 23(4), 221–229.

Jonassen DH and Hernandez-Serrano J. (2002). Case-based reasoning and instructional design: Using stories to support problem solving. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 50(2), 65-77.  

Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E. (2005). Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature, 435, 673-676.

Krain M. (2016) Putting the learning in case learning? The effects of case-based approaches on student knowledge, attitudes, and engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 27(2), 131-153.

Lee V. (2012). What is Inquiry-Guided Learning?  New Directions for Learning, 129:5-14.

Nkhoma M, Sriratanaviriyakul N. (2017). Using case method to enrich students’ learning outcomes. Active Learning in Higher Education, 18(1):37-50.

Srinivasan et al. (2007). Comparing problem-based learning with case-based learning: Effects of a major curricular shift at two institutions. Academic Medicine, 82(1): 74-82.

Thistlethwaite JE et al. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education. A BEME systematic review: BEME Guide No. 23.  Medical Teacher, 34, e421-e444.

Tuckman B. (1965). Development sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-99.

Williams B. (2005). Case-based learning - a review of the literature: is there scope for this educational paradigm in prehospital education? Emerg Med, 22, 577-581.

Zak, PJ (2013). How Stories Change the Brain. Retrieved from: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_stories_change_brain

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What the Case Study Method Really Teaches

• Nitin Nohria

Seven meta-skills that stick even if the cases fade from memory.

It’s been 100 years since Harvard Business School began using the case study method. Beyond teaching specific subject matter, the case study method excels in instilling meta-skills in students. This article explains the importance of seven such skills: preparation, discernment, bias recognition, judgement, collaboration, curiosity, and self-confidence.

During my decade as dean of Harvard Business School, I spent hundreds of hours talking with our alumni. To enliven these conversations, I relied on a favorite question: “What was the most important thing you learned from your time in our MBA program?”

• Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. and Distinguished Service University Professor. He served as the 10th dean of Harvard Business School, from 2010 to 2020.

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Case Studies

Case studies can be used to help students understand simple and complex issues. They typically are presented to the students as a situation or scenario which is guided by questions such as “What would you do in this situation?” or “How would you solve this problem?” Successful case studies focus on problem situations relevant to course content and which are relevant “both to the interests and experience level of learners” (Illinois Online Network, 2007).

Case studies can be simple problems where students “work out” a solution to more complex scenarios which require role playing and elaborate planning. Case studies typically involve teams although cases can be undertaken individually. Because case studies often are proposed to not have “one right answer” (Kowalski, Weaver, Henson, 1998, p. 4), some students may be challenged to think alternatively than their peers. However, when properly planned, case studies can effectively engage students in problem solving and deriving creative solutions.

The Penn State University’s Teaching and Learning with Technology unit suggests the following elements when planning case studies for use in the classroom.

Case studies actively involve students as they work on issues found in “real-life” situations and, with careful planning, can be used in all academic disciplines.

• Real-World Scenario. Cases are generally based on real world situations, although some facts may be changed to simplify the scenario or “protect the innocent.”
• Supporting Data and Documents. Effective case assignments typically provide real world situations for student to analyze. These can be simple data tables, links to URLs, quoted statements or testimony, supporting documents, images, video, audio, or any appropriate material.
• Open-Ended Problem. Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed team action plan, proposal or decision. (Penn State University, 2006, para. 2).

Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions.

Instructor Tasks

To help you get started using case studies in the classroom, a number of tasks should be considered. Following this list are tasks to help you prepare students as they participate in the case study.

• Identify a topic that is based on real-world situations
• Develop the case that will challenge students’ current knowledge of the topic
• Link the case to one (or more) of the course goals or objectives
• Provide students with case study basic information before asking them to work on the case
• Prepare necessary data, information, that will help students come up with a solution
• Discuss how this case would relate to real life and career situations
• Place students in teams in which participants have differing views and opinions to better challenge them in discussing possible solutions to the case
• Review team dynamics with the students (prepare an outline of team rules and roles)
• Inform students that they are to find a solution to the case based on their personal experiences, the knowledge gained in class, and challenge one another to solve the problem

Student Tasks

• Determine team member roles and identify a strategic plan to solve the case
• Brainstorm and prepare questions to further explore the case
• Read and critically analyze any data provided by the instructor, discuss the facts related to the case, identify and discuss the relationship of further problems within the case
• Listen to and be open to viewpoints expressed by each member of the team
• Assess, refine, and condense solutions that are presented
• Prepare findings as required by the instructor

Case studies provide students with scenarios in which they can begin to think about their understanding and solutions to problems found in real-world situations. When carefully planned, case studies will challenge students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills in a safe and open learning environment. Case studies can help students analyze and find solutions to complex problems with foresight and confidence.

Illinois Online Network (2007). ION research: Case studies. https://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/casestudies/

Kowalski, T. J., Weaver, R. A., & Henson, K. T. (1998). Case studies of beginning teachers. New York, NY: Longman.

Penn State University (2006). Office of Teaching and Learning with Technology. Using cases in teaching. http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/cases/casewhat.html

Selected Resources

Study Guides and Strategies (2007). Case studies. https://www.studygs.net/casestudy.htm

Suggested citation

Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2012). Case studies. In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide

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• Creating Effective Scenarios, Case Studies and Role Plays

Creating effective scenarios, case studies and role plays

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Scenarios, case studies and role plays are examples of active and collaborative teaching techniques that research confirms are effective for the deep learning needed for students to be able to remember and apply concepts once they have finished your course. See  Research Findings on University Teaching Methods .

Typically you would use case studies, scenarios and role plays for higher-level learning outcomes that require application, synthesis, and evaluation (see  Writing Outcomes or Learning Objectives ; scroll down to the table).

The point is to increase student interest and involvement, and have them practice application by making choices and receive feedback on them, and refine their understanding of concepts and practice in your discipline.

These types of activities provide the following research-based benefits: (Shaw, 3-5)

• They provide concrete examples of abstract concepts, facilitate the development through practice of analytical skills, procedural experience, and decision making skills through application of course concepts in real life situations. This can result in deep learning and the appreciation of differing perspectives.
• They can result in changed perspectives, increased empathy for others, greater insights into challenges faced by others, and increased civic engagement.
• They tend to increase student motivation and interest, as evidenced by increased rates of attendance, completion of assigned readings, and time spent on course work outside of class time.
• Studies show greater/longer retention of learned materials.
• The result is often better teacher/student relations and a more relaxed environment in which the natural exchange of ideas can take place. Students come to see the instructor in a more positive light.
• They often result in better understanding of complexity of situations. They provide a good forum for a large volume of orderly written analysis and discussion.

There are benefits for instructors as well, such as keeping things fresh and interesting in courses they teach repeatedly; providing good feedback on what students are getting and not getting; and helping in standing and promotion in institutions that value teaching and learning.

Outcomes and learning activity alignment

The learning activity should have a clear, specific skills and/or knowledge development purpose that is evident to both instructor and students. Students benefit from knowing the purpose of the exercise, learning outcomes it strives to achieve, and evaluation methods. The example shown in the table below is for a case study, but the focus on demonstration of what students will know and can do, and the alignment with appropriate learning activities to achieve those abilities applies to other learning activities.

(Smith, 18)

What’s the difference?

Scenarios are typically short and used to illustrate or apply one main concept. The point is to reinforce concepts and skills as they are taught by providing opportunity to apply them. Scenarios can also be more elaborate, with decision points and further scenario elaboration (multiple storylines), depending on responses. CETL has experience developing scenarios with multiple decision points and branching storylines with UNB faculty using PowerPoint and online educational software.

Case studies

Case studies are typically used to apply several problem-solving concepts and skills to a detailed situation with lots of supporting documentation and data. A case study is usually more complex and detailed than a scenario. It often involves a real-life, well documented situation and the students’ solutions are compared to what was done in the actual case. It generally includes dialogue, creates identification or empathy with the main characters, depending on the discipline. They are best if the situations are recent, relevant to students, have a problem or dilemma to solve, and involve principles that apply broadly.

Role plays can be short like scenarios or longer and more complex, like case studies, but without a lot of the documentation. The idea is to enable students to experience what it may be like to see a problem or issue from many different perspectives as they assume a role they may not typically take, and see others do the same.

Foundational considerations

Typically, scenarios, case studies and role plays should focus on real problems, appropriate to the discipline and course level.

They can be “well-structured” or “ill-structured”:

• Well-structured  case studies, problems and scenarios can be simple or complex or anything in-between, but they have an optimal solution and only relevant information is given, and it is usually labelled or otherwise easily identified.
• Ill-structured  case studies, problems and scenarios can also be simple or complex, although they tend to be complex. They have relevant and irrelevant information in them, and part of the student’s job is to decide what is relevant, how it is relevant, and to devise an evidence-based solution to the problem that is appropriate to the context and that can be defended by argumentation that draws upon the student’s knowledge of concepts in the discipline.

Well-structured problems would be used to demonstrate understanding and application. Higher learning levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation are better demonstrated by ill-structured problems.

Scenarios, case studies and role plays can be  authentic  or  realistic :

• Authentic  scenarios are actual events that occurred, usually with personal details altered to maintain anonymity. Since the events actually happened, we know that solutions are grounded in reality, not a fictionalized or idealized or simplified situation. This makes them “low transference” in that, since we are dealing with the real world (although in a low-stakes, training situation, often with much more time to resolve the situation than in real life, and just the one thing to work on at a time), not much after-training adjustment to the real world is necessary.
• By contrast,  realistic  scenarios are often hypothetical situations that may combine aspects of several real-world events, but are artificial in that they are fictionalized and often contain ideal or simplified elements that exist differently in the real world, and some complications are missing. This often means they are easier to solve than real-life issues, and thus are “high transference” in that some after-training adjustment is necessary to deal with the vagaries and complexities of the real world.

Scenarios, case studies and role plays can be  high  or  low fidelity :

High vs. low fidelity:  Fidelity has to do with how much a scenario, case study or role play is like its corresponding real world situation. Simplified, well-structured scenarios or problems are most appropriate for beginners. These are low-fidelity, lacking a lot of the detail that must be struggled with in actual practice. As students gain experience and deeper knowledge, the level of complexity and correspondence to real-world situations can be increased until they can solve high fidelity, ill-structured problems and scenarios.

Further details for each

Scenarios can be used in a very wide range of learning and assessment activities. Use in class exercises, seminars, as a content presentation method, exam (e.g., tell students the exam will have four case studies and they have to choose two—this encourages deep studying). Scenarios help instructors reflect on what they are trying to achieve, and modify teaching practice.

For detailed working examples of all types, see pages 7 – 25 of the  Psychology Applied Learning Scenarios (PALS) pdf .

The contents of case studies should: (Norton, 6)

• Connect with students’ prior knowledge and help build on it.
• Be presented in a real world context that could plausibly be something they would do in the discipline as a practitioner (e.g., be “authentic”).
• Provide some structure and direction but not too much, since self-directed learning is the goal. They should contain sufficient detail to make the issues clear, but with enough things left not detailed that students have to make assumptions before proceeding (or explore assumptions to determine which are the best to make). “Be ambiguous enough to force them to provide additional factors that influence their approach” (Norton, 6).
• Should have sufficient cues to encourage students to search for explanations but not so many that a lot of time is spent separating relevant and irrelevant cues. Also, too many storyline changes create unnecessary complexity that makes it unnecessarily difficult to deal with.
• Be interesting and engaging and relevant but focus on the mundane, not the bizarre or exceptional (we want to develop skills that will typically be of use in the discipline, not for exceptional circumstances only). Students will relate to case studies more if the depicted situation connects to personal experiences they’ve had.
• Help students fill in knowledge gaps.

Role plays generally have three types of participants: players, observers, and facilitator(s). They also have three phases, as indicated below:

Briefing phase:  This stage provides the warm-up, explanations, and asks participants for input on role play scenario. The role play should be somewhat flexible and customizable to the audience. Good role descriptions are sufficiently detailed to let the average person assume the role but not so detailed that there are so many things to remember that it becomes cumbersome. After role assignments, let participants chat a bit about the scenarios and their roles and ask questions. In assigning roles, consider avoiding having visible minorities playing “bad guy” roles. Ensure everyone is comfortable in their role; encourage students to play it up and even overact their role in order to make the point.

Play phase:  The facilitator makes seating arrangements (for players and observers), sets up props, arranges any tech support necessary, and does a short introduction. Players play roles, and the facilitator keeps things running smoothly by interjecting directions, descriptions, comments, and encouraging the participation of all roles until players keep things moving without intervention, then withdraws. The facilitator provides a conclusion if one does not arise naturally from the interaction.

Debriefing phase:  Role players talk about their experience to the class, facilitated by the instructor or appointee who draws out the main points. All players should describe how they felt and receive feedback from students and the instructor. If the role play involved heated interaction, the debriefing must reconcile any harsh feelings that may otherwise persist due to the exercise.

Five Cs of role playing  (AOM, 3)

Control:  Role plays often take on a life of their own that moves them in directions other than those intended. Rehearse in your mind a few possible ways this could happen and prepare possible intervention strategies. Perhaps for the first role play you can play a minor role to give you and “in” to exert some control if needed. Once the class has done a few role plays, getting off track becomes less likely. Be sensitive to the possibility that students from different cultures may respond in unforeseen ways to role plays. Perhaps ask students from diverse backgrounds privately in advance for advice on such matters. Perhaps some of these students can assist you as co-moderators or observers.

Controversy:  Explain to students that they need to prepare for situations that may provoke them or upset them, and they need to keep their cool and think. Reiterate the learning goals and explain that using this method is worth using because it draws in students more deeply and helps them to feel, not just think, which makes the learning more memorable and more likely to be accessible later. Set up a “safety code word” that students may use at any time to stop the role play and take a break.

Command of details:  Students who are more deeply involved may have many more detailed and persistent questions which will require that you have a lot of additional detail about the situation and characters. They may also question the value of role plays as a teaching method, so be prepared with pithy explanations.

Can you help?  Students may be concerned about how their acting will affect their grade, and want assistance in determining how to play their assigned character and need time to get into their role. Tell them they will not be marked on their acting. Say there is no single correct way to play a character. Prepare for slow starts, gaps in the action, and awkward moments. If someone really doesn’t want to take a role, let them participate by other means—as a recorder, moderator, technical support, observer, props…

Considered reflection:  Reflection and discussion are the main ways of learning from role plays. Players should reflect on what they felt, perceived, and learned from the session. Review the key events of the role play and consider what people would do differently and why. Include reflections of observers. Facilitate the discussion, but don’t impose your opinions, and play a neutral, background role. Be prepared to start with some of your own feedback if discussion is slow to start.

An engineering role play adaptation

Boundary objects (e.g., storyboards) have been used in engineering and computer science design projects to facilitate collaboration between specialists from different disciplines (Diaz, 6-80). In one instance, role play was used in a collaborative design workshop as a way of making computer scientist or engineering students play project roles they are not accustomed to thinking about, such as project manager, designer, user design specialist, etc. (Diaz 6-81).

References:

Academy of Management. (Undated).  Developing a Role playing Case Study as a Teaching Tool. 

Diaz, L., Reunanen, M., & Salimi, A. (2009, August).  Role Playing and Collaborative Scenario Design Development. Paper presented at the International Conference of Engineering Design, Stanford University, California.

Norton, L. (2004).  Psychology Applied Learning Scenarios (PALS): A practical introduction to problem-based learning using vignettes for psychology lecturers .  Liverpool Hope University College. 

Shaw, C. M. (2010). Designing and Using Simulations and Role-Play Exercises in  The International Studies Encyclopedia,  eISBN: 9781444336597

Smith, A. R. & Evanstone, A. (Undated).  Writing Effective Case Studies in the Sciences: Backward Design and Global Learning Outcomes.  Institute for Biological Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

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Mini Case 1: Case Study Learning in the Classroom

MSC began by producing and piloting case studies in classrooms around the University of Michigan campus. One early adopter, Professor Jeremiah Johnson at the School of Natural Resources and Environment, developed two of MSC’s first case studies with students from his class. The narrative that follows describes the learning and assessment that took place with those cases, as Professor Johnson attempts to answer the question “Can student work promote classroom learning for other students and contribute to faculty scholarship?”

Professor Jeremiah Johnson clicked “Save” on the syllabus for his Winter 2016 class, NRE 615: Renewable Electricity and the Grid. He hesitated a moment before closing the document, reflecting on the adjustments he had just made to the course. As with most faculty, the bread and butter of his courses was lectures. Lately, though, he had begun to feel dissatisfied with relying so heavily on this one teaching method. The problem with lectures, as he saw it, was that it encouraged far too much passivity among students. What he really wanted was for them to be engaged in the learning process, to take a more active role in both acquiring and creating knowledge. He wasn’t entirely sure how to do this, but he had just signed his name onto a proposal for the Transforming Learning for a Third Century (TLTC) initiative in which the faculty of the school were throwing their weight behind an effort to create case studies for sustainability education. The initiators of the proposal had chosen case studies because they have been shown to enhance student learning (Srinivasan et al., 2007; Herreid, 2011). In the spirit of the proposal, Professor Johnson planned to have his students create their own case studies as the major project for the course. Running such experiments in the classroom was always risky, he knew. Would the students understand the assignment and be able to deliver suitably high-quality work? Would the assignment enhance their learning and motivate them to be more active learners? Or, would their distaste for the assignment result in poor course evaluations for him? And lastly, could he use the students’ case studies in future semesters to promote classroom learning while contributing to his own scholarship?

It was April, and the end of the academic year was finally near. Professor Johnson settled into a rotating seat in the auditorium-style classroom, pen and rubric in hand. This week, the students were giving presentations about the case studies they had been working on all semester. Based on the written work the students had turned in, they had risen to the occasion with some truly excellent case studies. Several representatives from MSC had also joined class to scout for the best ideas to potentially fund and develop into complete, multimedia-enriched cases. Professor Johnson knew which groups he would recommend, and he was curious to see if the MSC representatives agreed with him. Later that month, Professor Johnson found himself in MSC’s first curricular advisors meeting, reviewing proposals with other faculty from around campus. The room buzzed with excited energy as the advisors sorted the proposals by theme, location, and competencies addressed, seeking diversity for a future case library. By the end of the two-hour meeting, 27 proposals had been accepted and would become the very first MSCs, including two proposals from his students in NRE 615. Professor Johnson was especially interested in these case studies because they fit well into his existing syllabus, and he could use them to teach future students. And, having the students write the case studies based on their classroom work seemed to be an efficient way of creating new teaching materials. He hoped the student case authors would get as much out of the process as he was getting in new teaching materials. He thought they would, based on what he knew about the research on the benefits of project-based learning (Wiek et al., 2014).

Summer came and went far too quickly. The student case authors had put in a lot of work over the past few months to transform their classroom assignments into complete case studies. One of the case studies, “ Distributed Energy Storage ” (Kraus et al., 2016), about an innovative partnership between Tesla and a small electric utility in Vermont called Green Mountain Power, was slightly further along in the production process and would likely finish soon. The team had worked especially quickly given that they had chosen to do the majority of the podcast production themselves. Most teams that Professor Johnson knew of worked with MSC to conceptualize the podcast and conduct interviews, and MSC provided the production and engineering. One of the student case authors, Andrea Kraus, had some experience in audio production, and she was using this opportunity to flex and strengthen her media muscles. The podcast was shaping up to be an excellent addition to the case study, both as a complementary mode of learning (Serva & Fuller, 2004) and as a connection to the practitioner for the case, Josh Castonguay of Green Mountain Power. Mr. Castonguay had been able to provide an insider’s perspective on the partnership Green Mountain Power had undertaken, and as a result the case study linked theory to practice in a way that a textbook could not. Professor Johnson had high hopes for the positive impact the case would have on his teaching when he piloted it next Winter term. However, he still had to decide how to assess the impact of the case on the students’ learning. How could he get useful feedback in a way that would also help build his own scholarly portfolio?

Resolution: In January 2017, Professor Johnson launched “Distributed Energy Storage” in NRE 615 by giving his students a quiz. He had a keen interest in assessing the case, or, in other words, finding out whether using the case study produced positive student learning outcomes. Although MSC was rapidly developing its own set of assessment tools for its cases, Professor Johnson had a solid idea of the approach he wanted to take, so he had ventured out on his own and was now passing out content-related questions about the case. The students would see these same questions on the final exam in April, and he planned to compare scores between the two tests. Professor Johnson was also looking forward to the annual meeting for the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) that, conveniently, would be held in Ann Arbor in June. He was already preparing his abstract, certain that his results would interest other environmental engineering professors looking to improve their own teaching.

At the conference that summer, a sizable crowd gathered to hear Professor Johnson’s talk about his experience using “Distributed Energy Storage.” Although many of the audience members were passionate about teaching, he was unsure how many were using case studies. He knew that case studies, although they had some research supporting their efficacy (e.g., Anderson et al., 2017; Dochy et al., 2003; Dori et al., 2003), were not universally loved. Many instructors believed that case studies were an inferior method of teaching course-related content, for example. Often, appropriate case studies were unavailable, requiring an instructor to create his or her own case study from the ground up, which consumed precious time. Faculty were also used to lecturing and often not trained in facilitating the kinds of classroom discussions associated with case studies (https://www.hbs.edu/teaching/case-method/Pages/default.aspx). MSC aimed to overcome some of these barriers with its case library and teaching workshops, but changing habits and minds would take time.

Professor Johnson’s assessment results were encouraging: Most students showed improvement from pre- to post-test, including international and first-generation college students. His class comprised students primarily from three different schools: Engineering, Business, and SEAS. Interestingly, the Engineering students showed the largest score gains, followed by the SEAS and Business students (Figure 1). Overall, Professor Johnson told the audience, he had observed great value in having students write a teaching case. He also found that supplementing lectures with cases helped to tie disparate concepts together for the students. 

The audience clapped enthusiastically after Professor Johnson concluded his presentation. A barrage of questions followed, so many that the moderator had to end the discussion to let the next speaker take the podium. Professor Johnson returned to his seat, beaming. He wasn’t sure how many converts to case-based teaching he had made, but he suspected it was at least a few. The case studies had, in the end, been a successful experiment in co-production, and he intended to use the student-produced material in his class for a long time to come.

Figure 1. Average number of questions answered correctly by students on the pre- and post-tests, out of a maximum of five. Error bars show the standard error. Three questions covered material from “Distributed Energy Storage,” and two covered material from an additional case study used in the class, “A Radioactive Decision” (Szczepanik et al., 2017). Dual-degree students were counted in both of their programs. Data are credited to Jeremiah Johnson. At the time of data collection, the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) was known as the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), though the label SEAS is retained in this figure for simplicity. 

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Best Practice Strategies to Implement Case Studies Across the Curriculum

Keith Rischer – Ph.D., RN, CCRN, CEN

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Lessons in learning.

Sean Finamore ’22 (left) and Xaviera Zime ’22 study during a lecture in the Science Center.

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Peter Reuell

Harvard Staff Writer

Study shows students in ‘active learning’ classrooms learn more than they think

For decades, there has been evidence that classroom techniques designed to get students to participate in the learning process produces better educational outcomes at virtually all levels.

And a new Harvard study suggests it may be important to let students know it.

The study , published Sept. 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that, though students felt as if they learned more through traditional lectures, they actually learned more when taking part in classrooms that employed so-called active-learning strategies.

Lead author Louis Deslauriers , the director of science teaching and learning and senior physics preceptor, knew that students would learn more from active learning. He published a key study in Science in 2011 that showed just that. But many students and faculty remained hesitant to switch to it.

“Often, students seemed genuinely to prefer smooth-as-silk traditional lectures,” Deslauriers said. “We wanted to take them at their word. Perhaps they actually felt like they learned more from lectures than they did from active learning.”

In addition to Deslauriers, the study is authored by director of sciences education and physics lecturer Logan McCarty , senior preceptor in applied physics Kelly Miller, preceptor in physics Greg Kestin , and Kristina Callaghan, now a physics lecturer at the University of California, Merced.

The question of whether students’ perceptions of their learning matches with how well they’re actually learning is particularly important, Deslauriers said, because while students eventually see the value of active learning, initially it can feel frustrating.

“Deep learning is hard work. The effort involved in active learning can be misinterpreted as a sign of poor learning,” he said. “On the other hand, a superstar lecturer can explain things in such a way as to make students feel like they are learning more than they actually are.”

To understand that dichotomy, Deslauriers and his co-authors designed an experiment that would expose students in an introductory physics class to both traditional lectures and active learning.

For the first 11 weeks of the 15-week class, students were taught using standard methods by an experienced instructor. In the 12th week, half the class was randomly assigned to a classroom that used active learning, while the other half attended highly polished lectures. In a subsequent class, the two groups were reversed. Notably, both groups used identical class content and only active engagement with the material was toggled on and off.

Following each class, students were surveyed on how much they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “I feel like I learned a lot from this lecture” and “I wish all my physics courses were taught this way.” Students were also tested on how much they learned in the class with 12 multiple-choice questions.

When the results were tallied, the authors found that students felt as if they learned more from the lectures, but in fact scored higher on tests following the active learning sessions. “Actual learning and feeling of learning were strongly anticorrelated,” Deslauriers said, “as shown through the robust statistical analysis by co-author Kelly Miller, who is an expert in educational statistics and active learning.”

Those results, the study authors are quick to point out, shouldn’t be interpreted as suggesting students dislike active learning. In fact, many studies have shown students quickly warm to the idea, once they begin to see the results. “In all the courses at Harvard that we’ve transformed to active learning,” Deslauriers said, “the overall course evaluations went up.”

Co-author Kestin, who in addition to being a physicist is a video producer with PBS’ NOVA, said, “It can be tempting to engage the class simply by folding lectures into a compelling ‘story,’ especially when that’s what students seem to like. I show my students the data from this study on the first day of class to help them appreciate the importance of their own involvement in active learning.”

McCarty, who oversees curricular efforts across the sciences, hopes this study will encourage more of his colleagues to embrace active learning.

“We want to make sure that other instructors are thinking hard about the way they’re teaching,” he said. “In our classes, we start each topic by asking students to gather in small groups to solve some problems. While they work, we walk around the room to observe them and answer questions. Then we come together and give a short lecture targeted specifically at the misconceptions and struggles we saw during the problem-solving activity. So far we’ve transformed over a dozen classes to use this kind of active-learning approach. It’s extremely efficient — we can cover just as much material as we would using lectures.”

A pioneer in work on active learning, Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics Eric Mazur hailed the study as debunking long-held beliefs about how students learn.

“This work unambiguously debunks the illusion of learning from lectures,” he said. “It also explains why instructors and students cling to the belief that listening to lectures constitutes learning. I recommend every lecturer reads this article.”

Dean of Science Christopher Stubbs , Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and of Astronomy, was an early convert. “When I first switched to teaching using active learning, some students resisted that change. This research confirms that faculty should persist and encourage active learning. Active engagement in every classroom, led by our incredible science faculty, should be the hallmark of residential undergraduate education at Harvard.”

Ultimately, Deslauriers said, the study shows that it’s important to ensure that neither instructors nor students are fooled into thinking that lectures are the best learning option. “Students might give fabulous evaluations to an amazing lecturer based on this feeling of learning, even though their actual learning isn’t optimal,” he said. “This could help to explain why study after study shows that student evaluations seem to be completely uncorrelated with actual learning.”

This research was supported with funding from the Harvard FAS Division of Science.

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Place-Based Learning in Action: A Geography Game for the Classroom

Social studies classrooms are the perfect place to incorporate hands-on and game-based learning to emphasize key place-based learning themes. Think about how the Oregon Trail game or Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? revolutionized how students were able to interact with and see the world! When students draw on maps, use globes to see the world, or play games to enhance their understanding, learning immediately becomes fun and concepts tangible. Students can experience and learn about the world in a way that is interactive, which helps them to retain geography and history terms better than just memorizing them.

To incorporate a hands-on approach and make your own classroom come alive, Social Studies School Service has developed a “Where Is It?” game for your students to learn key geographical landmarks and historical events in a fun way! Downloadable and easy-to print, this game helps students explore the physical geography and historical events of the world together. Teachers can use this activity in small-groups (2-6 students) or as a whole-class where students are assigned cards individually. Read on to learn more about the importance of place-based learning and how to download and use the game in your own classroom!

Key Features of Place-Based Learning

Place-based learning uses geographic landmarks and historical events as a starting point for teaching concepts across various subjects. This method emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning where students engage directly with their surroundings, whether it’s the natural environment, local history, culture, or the community’s social issues.

• Local Context: The curriculum is designed around the unique characteristics of the world, making learning more relevant and meaningful to students.
• Experiential Learning: Students participate in real-world, hands-on activities. In this case, the board game provides the foundation for experiential learning.
• Interdisciplinary Approach: Subjects like science, history, geography, and culture are integrated and taught through the lens of world geography.
• Student-Centered: Students are encouraged to explore their interests and take an active role in their learning process, fostering a deeper connection to the material.

This learning aims to create a deeper connection between students and their understanding of the world, fostering a sense of geographic and historical knowledge. This classroom game aims to activate prior knowledge and help students develop additional geographic and historical literacy skills.

The “Where Is It?” Game

Description: The “Where Is It” game is an engaging, educational board game designed to help students explore and understand geography and historical events through immersive gameplay. This adventure takes players on a journey across the diverse terrains and regions of the world, testing their knowledge of physical geography, cultural landmarks, and historical events.

Gameplay: Players begin by laying out the provided world map game board . Teachers can adapt this to a whole-class activity by projecting the digital game board map onto a white board. The cards are laid out and players draw cards one at a time. The players must decide where the card should be placed on the map. All players must agree where to place the card before it is placed. The player with the card then reads the description on the back and asks the other players if it was placed on the correct area of the map. Correct the card if needed. Repeat this rotating other players until all cards have been placed.

The game is rich with educational content:

• Geographic and Historical Literacy: Players encounter cards that engage their critical thinking related to geography and historical events. Whether working individually or in teams, players must determine where the card should be placed on the map based on the description.
• Cultural Information: Cards also include cultural significance of the landmark or the historical event. Students may learn more information about customs, languages, and historical sites, enhancing their cultural literacy.
• Prior Knowledge Activation: Students must activate their prior knowledge about geography and history to play this game. Players also need to problem-solve and make decisions about where to place the location cards on the map.

Educational Benefits:

• Place-Based Learning Skills: Students learn about different geographic regions, landmarks, and historical events, the physical geographic features, and cultural significance.
• Critical Thinking: The game encourages geographic literacy and decision-making.
• Collaborative Learning: Players can work in teams, promoting teamwork and communication.

Perfect for classroom use, the “Where Is It?” game offers a fun and dynamic way for students to deepen their understanding of geography and history while developing critical thinking and collaboration skills.

Download everything you need to start using the game in your classroom:

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This blog was written as a collaborative effort by the team at Social Studies School Service . It has been edited for clarity and length.

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• Devices in the Classroom

Digital devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones, are ubiquitous in society, across college campuses, and in college classrooms. A vast majority of college students bring and/or use a laptop in the classroom ( Patterson and Patterson, 2017 ; Elliot-Dorans, 2018 ). In many ways, the ubiquity of these devices has been a boon to higher education—students can now respond instantaneously to online polls, collaborate in real time on written work, and engage with a range of media more flexibly than ever before. Using digital devices to teach remotely for a year and a half helped further demonstrate some of the ways they might be used in-person to promote learning.

Given this tension, how do you create a classroom and course where technology is used to engage, rather than distract, students? Looking at the research and our experiences using technology both in-person and remotely, we’ve found that using technology well involves being intentional, flexible, and transparent. Below you’ll find some advice about how you might use technology to support your learning objectives, supplemented by research on how to prevent technology from becoming a distraction.

Distraction, not the device, is the problem

Let's be clear: the presence of electronic devices in the classroom is not, in and of itself, the problem. Rather, it's the way we incorporate electronic devices into situations in which we are already inclined to pay attention to too many things. Broadly, we are not wired to multitask well (e.g. Mayer and Moreno, 2003 ), which is precisely the temptation that many students report experiencing when they are in the classroom. Let’s take a moment to look at what the research on in-class device usage tells us about multitasking; or, you may wish to jump directly to our recommendations below.

Studies of individual class sessions

A growing number of studies have found that off-topic device usage—whether on a phone or on a laptop—impedes academic performance (e.g. Glass and Kang, 2019 ; Felisoni and Godoi, 2018 ; Bjornsen and Archer, 2015 ; Demirbilek and Talan, 2018 ). Several studies have compared students who texted during a lecture versus those who did not. Those who texted typically took lower quality notes, retained less information, and did worse on tests about the material (e.g. Kuznekoff and Titsworth, 2013 , and Rosen et al, 2011 ; Lee et al, 2017 ). Students themselves are aware that in-class multitasking does not promote learning; in one survey, 80% of students agreed that multitasking in class decreases their ability to pay attention ( Sana et al, 2013 ).

Studies of semester-long courses

Much of the above data comes from simulated class situations, correlational studies, or studies of a single class session. What happens when students are not allowed to use computers in class for an entire semester? Two studies comparing actual college classrooms in which students were or were not allowed to use computers over the course of the semester found that students who bring a laptop to class earned lower grades than those who do not ( Patterson and Patterson, 2017 ; Carter et al, 2017 ).

However, the evidence is not uniformly against laptops. Elliot-Dorans compared different sections of the same course that either banned or allowed laptops, and found that banning laptops led to lower quality of written work, lower attendance, and lower exam scores ( Elliot-Dorans, 2018 ). The author surmised that students’ note taking was worse without a laptop, which impeded their learning.

Our recommendations

Maintaining focus.

Boredom is one of the main reasons that students report using a digital device during class ( McCoy, 2016 ). By keeping your students engaged, thinking, and doing activities during class, they are less likely to be tempted by digital distractions. Two studies, one that asked students to use clickers to report lapses in attention ( Bunce et al, 2010 ) and one that tracked students’ eye gaze patterns during lectures ( Rosengrant et al, 2012 , summarized here ), found that students’ attention is highest during and immediately after a change in pedagogy or behavior of the instructor. Some examples of changes that can help students maintain focus include:

Variety in pedagogical activities. If you want students to pay attention to you, then you have to offer them something more interesting than your slides (which they’re perfectly capable of reading for themselves). Look for opportunities to change up the interaction in the classroom. If you're lecturing, why not ask your students to provide examples of the concept you’re describing? If you are leading a discussion seminar, why not design activities for students to talk to each other in small groups instead of just answering your questions for the duration of the class? For example, prompt students turn and talk to each other about a question or challenge you’ve posed. Technology can help promote engagement and collaboration during an activity like this; students could write and respond to each other in a shared Google Doc.

Proximity to the instructor. You are not a prisoner of the podium, or the front of the table, or however your classroom is set up. Of course, you can't be proximate to each student all the time—so move around! You can use your position in the classroom to change the flow of the conversation and the way that students direct their attention.

Humor. You probably already knew that students typically pay attention to jokes. But there's a lot more behind that surface observation: laughter in the classroom can make students more comfortable, lower their affective filter , encourage intellectual risk-taking, decrease anxiety, and establish a more productive student-teacher relationship.

Using technology for learning and engagement

Furthermore, students may prefer taking notes on their computer rather than by hand. In one survey of college students, 70% of students report that having a laptop in class is helpful for their academic performance, with note-taking cited as the most important benefit ( Kay and Lauricella, 2014 ). Additional reported benefits include engagement with in-class academic activities, and communication and collaboration with peers ( Kay and Lauricella, 2014 ; Fried, 2008 ).

Technology as a technology of inclusion

While for many students banning devices from the classroom may seem like a minor inconvenience, students with dyslexia, ADHD, or visual impairments use computers to take notes and to access cloud-based assistive technologies. People with invisible disabilities are enrolling in higher education settings in increasing numbers, and require access to technologies that assist with their learning. Allowing all students access to a device in class avoids singling out students who have important reasons for using one.

To allow or not allow devices?

Faculty are often hesitant to allow students to use devices in the classroom due to the potential for distraction. However, we note that the challenge with digital devices is not the device per se, but off-topic usage. We can decrease the temptation by ensuring that the class itself is interactive and engaging, and that any use of technology is relevant.

We recommend being intentional, transparent, and flexible about use of digital devices in the classroom.

Start by thinking carefully about your learning objectives , and identify activities that align with your objectives and enhance learning. Sometimes the most appropriate activity might not involve technology, but instead might include students talking to a neighbor, drawing a diagram on paper, or solving a problem on a white board. In other cases, you might see an ideal use case for electronic devices. For example, you might incorporate online tools that provide insight into student understanding (such as polls) or that allow collaborative work.

During some portions of a class, you might encourage students not to use their devices, but to instead maintain their attention on the conversation, for example. (You may wish to apply these directions flexibility, with the understanding that some students rely on digital tools for learning.)

Communicate clearly—and frequently—about when and why to use a device, as well as why not to use a device. Share the research about how off-topic device usage impedes learning.

Include a technology policy on your syllabus. In addition to letting students know what they can and cannot use, it is important to let them know why.

Share advice about good practices for using digital devices. Guidance about turning off extraneous applications and notifications, and closing the device when an activity is completed, will help students not only in your class, but also in their future work environments.

For more information...

Beth McMurtrie, " Should You Allow Cellphones in Class? "  The Chronicle of Higher Education  (20 October 2022).

James M. Lang, Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do about It  (Hachette, 2020).

J. Weinberg, " Why To Discourage Laptops In Class (With Slides You Can Show Your Students) ," Daily Nous (15 August 2018). [These slides provide an overview of research surrounding using laptops in class; additionally, the comments provide some nuance as to why a ban can be problematic.]

Zhu, E., Kaplan, M., Dershimer, R. C., & Bergom, I. (2011). Use of laptops in the classroom: Research and best practices . CRLT Occasional Papers, 30(6).

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• Published: 26 August 2024

Using a flipped teaching strategy in undergraduate nursing education: students’ perceptions and performance

• Shaherah Yousef Andargeery 1 ,
• Hibah Abdulrahim Bahri 2 ,
• Rania Ali Alhalwani 1 ,
• Shorok Hamed Alahmedi 1 &
• Waad Hasan Ali 1  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  926 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Flipped teaching is an interactive learning strategy that actively engages students in the learning process. Students have an active role in flipped teaching as they independently prepare for the class. Class time is dedicated to discussion and learning activities. Thus, it is believed that flipped teaching promotes students’ critical thinking, communication, application of knowledge in real-life situations, and becoming lifelong learners. The aim of this study was to describe the students’ perception of flipped teaching as an innovative learning strategy. And to assess if there was a difference in students’ academic performance between those who participated in a traditional teaching strategy compared to those who participated in flipped teaching intervention.

A quasi-experimental design with intervention and control groups. A purposive sampling technique of undergraduate nursing students was used.

A total of 355 students participated in both groups, and 70 out of 182 students in the intervention group completed the survey. The students perceived a moderate level of effectiveness of the flipped teaching classroom as a teaching strategy. The result revealed that there is a statistically significant difference in the mean students’ scores for the intervention group (M = 83.34, SD = 9.81) and control group (M = 75.57, SD = 9.82).

Flipped teaching proves its effectiveness in improving students’ learning experience and academic performance. Also, students had a positive perception about flipped teaching as it allowed them to develop essential nursing competencies. Future studies must consider measuring the influence of flipped teaching on students’ ability to acquire nursing competencies, such as critical thinking and clinical reasoning.

Peer Review reports

The successful outcome of individualized nursing care of each patient depends on effective communication between nurses and patients. Therapeutic communication consists of an exchange of verbal and non-verbal cues. It is a process in which the professional nurse uses specific techniques to help patients better understand their conditions and promote patients’ open communication of their thoughts and feelings in an environment of mutual respect and acceptance [ 1 ]. Effective educational preparation, continuing practice, and self-reflection about one’s communication skills are all necessary for becoming proficient in therapeutic communication. Teaching therapeutic communication to nursing students explains the principles of verbal and non-verbal communication that can be emphasized through classroom presentation, discussion, case studies and role-play. It also helps them develop their ability to communicate effectively with patients, families, and other health care professionals. Nursing students should be able to critically think, conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information generated by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, and communication. Utilizing a traditional teaching strategy can be a challenge to meet the previously stated requirements [ 2 ]. Therefore, nurse educators should adapt unique teaching methods to help students learn and participate in their own education.

The “flipped classroom” is a pedagogical approach that has gained popularity worldwide to foster active learning. Active learning is defined as instructional strategies that actively engage students in their learning. It requires them to do meaningful learning activities and reflect on their actions [ 3 ]. Flipped teaching is a teaching strategy that promotes critical thinking and the application of information learned outside of the classroom to real-world situations and solves problems within the classroom. It is used in a way that allows educators to deliver lectures by using technologies such as video, audio files, PowerPoint or other media. Thus, the students can read or study those materials on their own at home before attending the class. As a result, discussions and debates about the materials take place throughout the lecture time. Some of the main principles of flipped teaching are increasing interaction and communication between students and educators, allocating more time for content mastery and understanding, granting opportunities for closing gaps and development, creating opportunities for active engagement, and providing immediate feedback [ 4 , 5 ]. This teaching/learning methodology is supported by constructivism learning theory. A “problem-solving approach to learning” is how constructivism is frequently described. In which, it requires a shift in the nurse educator’s epistemic assumptions about the teaching-learning process. Constructivism requires nursing educators to take on the role of a learning facilitator who encourages collaboration and teamwork as well as guides the students in building their knowledge. The underlying assumptions of constructivism include the idea that learning occurs as a result of social interaction in which the student actively creates their own knowledge, while prior experiences serve as the foundation for the learning process. The “flipping classroom” reflects that approach, which integrates student-centered learning [ 6 ].

Flipped teaching approach has students learning before lectures, teaching the material to better use classroom time for cooperative learning. The discussed herein represents studies and case studies from primary through graduate schools. The literature indicated students did see value in this pedagogical approach. Most of the studies found that flipped teaching was associated with better understanding of the material learned, higher academic achievement/performance, and potentially improved psychosocial factors (self-esteem, self-efficacy) that are associated with learning. Interestingly, one article pointed out that non-didactic material used in flipped-teaching lead to an increase in performance and this did not happen with didactic material.

According to Jordan et al. [ 7 ], a flipped teaching is a methodology that was developed as a response to advancements and changes in society, pedagogical approaches, and rapid growth and advancement of technology; The flipped teaching was evolved from the peer instruction and just in time teaching approaches. Jordan and colleagues [ 7 ] state that independent learning happens outside the classroom prior to the lesson through instructional materials while classroom time is maximized to fosters an environment of collaborative learning. Qutob [ 8 ] states that flipped teaching enhances student learning and engagement and promotes greater independence for students.

Jordan et al. [ 7 ] studied the use of flipped teaching on the teaching of first- and fourth-year students’ discrete mathematics and graphs, models, and applications. Across all the classes studied (pilot, graph, model and application, practices, computer and business administration), students preferred flipped teaching compared to traditional teaching. According to Jordan et al. [ 7 ], the quality of the materials and exercises, and perceived difficulty of the course and material are important to student satisfaction with this method. Additionally, it was found that interactions with teachers and collaborative learning were positive. Likewise, Nguyen et al. [ 9 ] found students favorably perceive flipped teaching. This is especially true for those students who have an understanding that the method involves preparation and interaction and how these affect the outcomes. Vazquez and Chiang [ 10 ] discuss the lessons learned from observing two large Principles of Economics Classes at the University of Illinois; each class held 900 students. Vazquez and Chiang [ 10 ] found that the students preferred watching videos over reading the textbook. Secondly, students were better prepared after they watched pre-lecture videos compared to reading the textbook beforehand. The third finding involved the length of time pre-lecture work should take; the authors state pre-lecture work should be approximately 15 to 20 min of work ahead of each in-class session. The fourth finding is that the flipped teaching is a costly endeavor. Finally, it was found that having the students watch videos before the lectures reduced the time spent in class covering the material; the end result of this is students spend more time engaging in active learning than reviewing the material.

Qutob [ 8 ] studied the effects of flip teaching using two hematology courses. One of the courses was delivered using traditional teaching and the other course was flipped teaching. Qutob [ 8 ] found that students in the flipped course not only performed better on academic tasks, but also they had more knowledge and understanding of the material covered compared to those in the traditional format class. Additionally, Qutob [ 8 ] revealed that students in the flipped classroom found this style of learning is more beneficial than traditional teaching. Moreover, Florence and Kolski [ 11 ] found an improvement in high school students’ writing post-intervention. The authors further found that students were more engaged with the material and had a positive perception of the flipped model. Bahadur and Akhtar [ 12 ] conducted a meta-analysis of twelve research articles on flipped teaching; the studies demonstrated that students taught in the flip teaching classroom performed better academically and were more interactive and engaged in the material than students taught through traditional methods. Galindo-Dominguez [ 13 ] conducted a systematic review using 61 studies and found evidence for the effectiveness of this approach compared to other pedagogical approaches with regards to academic achievement, improved self-efficacy, motivation, engagement, and cooperativeness. Webb et al. [ 14 ] studied 127 students taking microeconomics and found the delivery of flipped material (didactic vs. non-didactic) influenced students’ improvements. They further found performance improvements for the students who attended flipped classes using non-didactic pre-class material. At the same time, Webb et al. [ 14 ] further found non-improvement associated with flipped classes that used didactic pre-class materials; these materials are akin to traditional lectures.

In the context of nursing education, flipped teaching strategy has demonstrated promising and effective results in enhancing student motivation, performance, critical thinking skills, and learning quality. The flipped teaching classrooms were associated with high ratings in teaching evaluations, increased course satisfaction, improved critical thinking skills [ 15 ], improved exam results and learning quality [ 16 ] and high levels of personal, teaching, and pedagogical readiness [ 17 ]. Another study showed that student performance motivation scores especially in extrinsic goal orientation, control beliefs, and self-efficacy for learning and performance were significantly higher in the flipped teaching classroom when compared to the traditional classroom strategy [ 16 ].

Regardless of these important findings, there have been limited studies published about the flipped teaching strategy in Saudi Arabia, particularly among nursing students. Therefore, implementing the flipped teaching strategy in a therapeutic communication course would be effective in academic performance and retention of knowledge. The flipped teaching method will fit best with the goals of a therapeutic communication course as both focus on active learning and student engagement. This approach is well-matched for a therapeutic communication course as it allows students to apply and practice the communication techniques and strategies, they have learned outside of class from the flipped teaching materials and freeing up class time for interactive and experiential activities. The filliped teaching method can provide opportunities for students to apply effective interpersonal communication skills in classes, provide more time to observe students practicing therapeutic communication techniques through role-play, group discussions, and case studies. It also allows instructors to refine and provide individualized feedback and offer real-time guidance to help students improve their interpersonal communication skills.

The current study aims to examine the students’ perception of a teaching innovation based on the use of the flipped teaching strategy in the therapeutic communication course. Further, to compare if there is a difference in students’ academic performance of students who participate in a traditional teaching strategy when compared with students who participate in flipped teaching intervention.

Students who participated in the intervention group perceived a high level of effectiveness of the flipped teaching classroom as a teaching/learning strategy.

There is a significant difference in the mean scores of students’ academic performance between students who participate in a traditional teaching strategy (control group) when compared with those students who participate in flipped teaching classroom (intervention group).

Design of the study

Quantitative method, quasi-experimental design was used in this study. This research study involves implementing a flipped teaching strategy (intervention) to examine the effectiveness of the flipped teaching among the participants in the intervention group and to examine the significant difference in the mean scores of the students’ performance between the intervention and control group.

College of Nursing at one of the educational universities located in Saudi Arabia.

A purposive sampling technique was conducted in this study. This sampling technique allows the researcher to target specific participants who have certain characteristics that are most relevant and informative for addressing the research questions. The advantages of the purposive sampling lie in gathering in-depth, detailed and contextual data from the most appropriate sources and ensure that the study captures a more comprehensive understanding of the concept of interest by considering different viewpoints [ 18 ]. Participants were eligible to participate in this study if they were (1) Enrolled in the undergraduate nursing programs (Nursing or Midwifery Programs) in the College Nursing; (2) Enrolled in Therapeutic Communication Course; (3) at least 18 years old or older. Participant’s data was excluded if 50% of the responses were incomplete. The sample size was calculated using G-Power. The required participants for recruitment to implement this study is 152 participants to reach a confidence level of 95% and a margin error of 5%.

Measurement

Demographic data including the participants’ age and GPA were collected from all the participants. Educational characteristics related to the flipped teaching were collected from the participants in the intervention group including the level of English proficiency, program enrollment, attending previous, attending previous course(s) that used flipped teaching strategy, time spent each week preparing for the lectures, time spent preparing for the course exams, and recommendation for applying flipped teaching in other classes.

The student’s perception of the effectiveness of the flipped teaching strategy was measured by a survey that focused on the effectiveness of flipped teaching. This data was collected only from the participants in the intervention group. The survey involves 14 items that used 5-point Likert-type scale (5 = strongly agree, 4 = agree, 3 = neutral, 2 = disagree and 1 = strongly disagree). The sum of the scores was calculated for the item, a high score indicates a high effectiveness of flipped teaching. The survey was developed by Neeli et al. [ 19 ] and the author was contacted to obtain permission to use the survey. The reliability of the scale was tested using Cronbach alpha, which was 0.91, indicating that the scale has an excellent reliability.

Also, student academic performance was measured for both the intervention and control groups though the average cumulative scores of the assessment methods of students who were enrolled in the Therapeutic Communication Course, given a total of 100. The students’ grades obtained in the course were calculated based grading structure of the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia (The Rules and Regulations of Undergraduate Study and Examination).

Ethical approval

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (No. 22-0860) was received before conducting the study. Participants were provided with information about the study and informed about the consent process. Informed consent to participate was obtained from all the participants in the study.

Intervention

Therapeutic communication course was taught face-to-face for students enrolled in the second year in the Bachelor of Science in Midwifery and Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs. There were eight sections for the therapeutic communication course, two of them were under the midwifery program and the remaining (six sections) were under the nursing program. Each section was held once a week in a two-hour length for 10 weeks during the second semester of 2022. Students in all sections received the same materials, contents, and assessment methods, which is considered the traditional teaching strategy. The contents of the course included the following topics: introduction of communication, verbal and written communication, listening skills, non-verbal communication, nurse-patient relationship, professional boundaries, communication styles, effective communication skills for small groups, communication through nursing process, communication with special needs patient, health education and principles for empowering individuals, communication through technology, and trends and issues in therapeutic communication. The course materials, course objectives and learning outcomes, learning resources, and other supporting materials were uploaded to the electronic platform “Blackboard” (A Learning Management System) for all sections to facilitate students’ preparation during classes. The assessment methods include written mid-term examination, case studies, group presentation, and final written examination. The grading scores for each assessment method were also the same for all sections.

The eight course sections were randomly assigned into traditional teaching strategy (control group) or flipped teaching strategy (intervention group). Figure  1 shows random distribution of the course sections. The intervention group ( n  = 182) included one section of the Bachelor of Science in Midwifery program ( n  = 55 students) and three sections of Bachelor of Science in Nursing program ( n  = 127 students). The control group ( n  = 173) included one section of the Bachelor of Science in Midwifery program ( n  = 50 students) and three sections of Bachelor of Science in Nursing program ( n  = 123 students). Although randomization of the participants is not possible, we were able to create comparison groups between participants who received the flipped teaching and traditional teaching strategy. To ensure the consistency of the information given to the students and reduce the variability, the instructors were meeting periodically and reviewed the materials together. More importantly, all students received the same topics and assessment methods as stated in the course syllabus and as mentioned above. The instructors in all sections were required to answer students’ questions, provide clarification to the points raised throughout the semester, and give constructive feedback after the evaluation of each assessment method. Students were encouraged to freely express their opinions on the issues discussed and to share their thoughts when the opinions were inconsistent.

Random Distribution of the Course Sections

The intervention group were taught the course contents by using the flipped teaching strategy. The participants in the intervention group were asked to read the lectures and watch short videos from online sources before coming to classes. Similar materials and links were uploaded by the course instructors into the Blackboard system. During the classes, participants were divided into groups and were given time to appraise research articles and case scenarios related to the topics of the course. During the discussion time, each group presented their answers, and the course instructors encouraged the students to share their thoughts and provided constructive feedback. Questions corresponded to the intended objectives and learning outcomes were posted during the class time in Kahoot and Nearpod platforms as a competition to enhance students’ engagement. By the end of the semester, the flipped teaching survey was electronically distributed to students who were involved in the intervention group to examine the educational characteristics and assess the students’ perceptions about the flipped teaching.

Data collection procedure

After obtaining the IRB approval, the PI sent invitation letters to the potential participants using their official university email accounts. The invitation letter included a Microsoft Forms’ link with the description about the study, aim, research question, and sample size required to conduct the study. All students gave their permission to participate, and informed consent was obtained from them ( N  = 355). The link also included questions related to age, GPA, and approval to use their scores from assessment methods for research purposes. The first part of data collection was obtained immediately after the therapeutic communication course was over. The average cumulative scores of all the assessment methods (out of 100) were calculated to measure the students’ academic performance for both the intervention and control groups.

The second part of data collection was conducted after the final exam of the therapeutic communication course ( n  = 182). A Microsoft Forms link was sent to the participants in the intervention group only. It included questions related to educational characteristics and students’ perception of the effectiveness of flipped teaching. Students needed a maximum of 10 min to complete the study survey.

Data analysis

Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 27. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the demographic and educational characteristics and perception of flipped teaching strategy. An independent t-test was implemented to compare the mean scores of the intervention and control groups to examine whether there is a statistically significance difference between both groups. A significance level of p  < 0.05 was determined as statistical significance in this study.

The total number of students who enrolled in therapeutic communication course was 355 students. The intervention group included 182 students and the control group included 173 students. The mean age of all participants in the study was 19 years old (M = 19.56, SD = 1.19). The mean GPA was 3.53 (SD = 1.43). Of those enrolled in the intervention group, only 70 out of 182 students completed the survey. Table  1 represents the description of the educational characteristics of the participants in intervention group ( n  = 70). Around 65% of the participants reported that their level of English proficiency is intermediate, and they were enrolled in the nursing program. Half of the students had precious courses that used flipped teaching strategy. About one-third of the students indicated that they spent less than 15 min each week preparing for lectures. Around 65% of the students stated that they spent more than 120 min preparing for the course exam. Half of the students gave their recommendation for applying flipped teaching strategy in other courses. The mean score of the students’ performance in Therapeutic Communication course who enrolled in the intervention group is 83.34 (SD = 9.81) and for those who were enrolled in the control group is 75.57 (SD = 9.82).

The students perceived a moderate level of effectiveness of the flipped teaching classroom as a teaching strategy (M = 3.49, SD = 0.69) (Table  2 ). The three highest items that improved students’ perception about the flipped teaching strategy were: flipped classroom session develops logical thinking (M = 3.77, SD = 0.99), followed by flipped classroom session provides extra information (M = 3.68, SD = 1.02), then flipped classroom session improves the application of knowledge (M = 3.64, SD = 1.04). The three lowest items perceived by the students were: Flipped classroom session should have allotted more time for each topic (M = 3.11, SD = 1.07), flipped classroom session requires a long time for preparation and conduction (M = 3.23, SD = 1.04), and flipped classroom session reduces the amount of time needed for study when compared to lectures (M = 3.26, SD = 1.07).

An independent sample T-test was implemented to compare the mean scores of the students’ academic performance between the intervention group ( n  = 182) and control group ( n  = 173) (Table  3 ). The results of Levene’s test for equality of variances ( p  = 0.801) indicated that equal variances assumed, and the assumption of equal variances has not been violated. The significant level value (2-tailed) is p  ≤ 0.001, indicating that there is a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of students’ academic performance for the intervention group (M = 83.34, SD = 9.81) and control group (M = 75.57, SD = 9.82). The magnitude of the differences in the means (Mean difference= -7.77%, CI: -10.02 to -5.52) is very small (Eta squared = 0.00035).

Flipped teaching is a learning strategy that engages students in the learning process allowing them to improve their academic performance and develop cognitive skills [ 20 ]. This study investigated the effect of implementing flipped teaching as an interactive learning strategy on nursing students’ performance. Also, the study examined students’ perceptions of integrating flipped teaching into their learning process. Flipped teaching is identified as an interactive teaching strategy that provides an engaging learning environment with immediate feedback allowing students to master the learning content [ 4 , 5 ]. Improvement in the student’s academic performance and development of learning competencies were expected outcomes. The flipped classroom approach aligns with the constructivist theory of education, which posits that students actively construct their own knowledge and understanding through engaging with the content and applying it in meaningful contexts. By providing pre-class materials (e.g., videos, readings) for students to engage with independently, the flipped classroom allows them to build a foundational understanding of the concepts before class, enabling them to actively participate in discussions, problem-solving, and collaborative activities during the class. By shifting the passive acquisition of knowledge to the pre-class phase and dedicating in-class time to active, collaborative, and problem-based learning, the flipped classroom approach creates an environment that fosters deeper understanding, the development of critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills as well as the ability to apply knowledge in clinical practice [ 21 ].

Effectiveness of the flipped teaching on students’ academic performance

The influence of flipped teaching on students’ academic performance was identified by evaluating students’ examination scores. The results of this study indicated that flipped teaching had a significant influence on students’ academic performance ( p  = 0.000). This significant influence implies the positive effectiveness of flipped teaching on students’ academic performance (M = 83.34, SD = 9.81) compared to traditional classroom (M = 75.57, SD = 9.82). These results are in line with other researchers regarding improving students’ academic performance [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Qutob’s [ 8 ] study shows that flipped teaching positively influences students’ performance. Preparation for class positively influenced students’ academic performance. The flipped classroom approach is underpinned by the principles of constructivism. These principles emphasize the active role of students in constructing their own understanding of concepts and ideas, rather than passively receiving information [ 21 ].

In a traditional classroom, the teacher typically delivers content through lectures, and students are tasked with applying that knowledge through homework or in-class activities. However, this model often fails to engage students actively in the learning process. In contract,

Flipped classroom requires students to prepare for the class which allows them to be exposed to the learning material before the class. During class time, students are giving opportunities to interact with their classmates and instructors to discuss the learning topic which can positively influencing their academic performance later [ 7 , 9 ]. Furthermore, the flipped classroom approach aligns perfectly with the core tenets of constructivism. Its adherence to the constructivist 5E Instructional Model further demonstrates its grounding in this learning theory. The 5E model, which includes the phases of engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation, provides a framework for facilitating the active construction of knowledge [ 22 ].

It first sparks student interest and curiosity about the concepts (engagement), then enables students to investigate and experiment with the ideas through hands-on activities and investigations (exploration). This is followed by opportunities for students to make sense of their explorations and construct their own explanations (explanation). The flipped classroom then allows students to apply their knowledge in new contexts, deepening their understanding (elaboration). Finally, the evaluation phase assesses student learning and provides feedback, completing the cycle of constructivist learning [ 22 ]. This alignment with the 5E model, along with the flipped classroom’s emphasis on active learning and create environment that nurtures deeper understanding, the development of higher-order thinking skills, and the ability to transfer learning to real-world contexts.

In this study, one third of the students indicated that the preparation time was less than fifteen minutes a week. According to Vazquez and Chiang [ 10 ], preparation time for classroom should be about 15 to 20 min for each topic. Preparation for class did not take much time but positively influenced students’ academic performance. Furthermore, preparation for class allows students to develop the skills to be independent learners [ 8 ]. Independence in learning develops continuous learning skills, such as long-life learning which is a required competency for nursing. Garcia et al. [ 22 ] found out that focusing on shifting teachers’ practices towards active learning approaches, such as the 5E Instructional Model, can have lasting, positive impacts on students’ conceptual understanding and learning.

Students’ perception of flipped teaching as a teaching strategy

Students’ perception of flipped teaching as a learning strategy was examined using a survey developed by Neeli et al. [ 19 ]. Students recognize flipped teaching as an effective teaching strategy (M = 3.49, SD = 0.69) that had a positive influence on their learning processes and outcomes. Several studies identified the positive influence of flipped teaching on students’ learning process and learning outcomes [ 8 , 19 ]. Flipped teaching provides a problem-based learning environment allowing students to develop clinical reasoning, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the subject [ 5 , 8 , 19 , 23 ]. The flipped teaching approach introduces students to the learning materials before class. Class time is then utilized for discussion, hands-on, and problem-solving activities to foster a deeper understanding of the studied subject [ 5 ]. Consequently, flipped teaching provides a problem-based learning environment as it encourages students to be actively engaged in the learning process, work collaboratively with their classmates, and apply previously learned knowledge and skills to solve a problem. The result of this study is consistent with the results from a systematic review conducted by Youhasan et al. [ 5 ]. Implementing flipped teaching in undergraduate nursing education provides positive outcomes on students’ learning experiences and outcomes and prepares them to deal with future challenges in their academic and professional activities [ 5 ].

Implications

The results from this study identified that flipped teaching has a significant influence on students’ academic performance. The results also indicated that students have positive perception of flipped teaching as an interactive learning strategy. Flipped teaching pedagogy could be integrated in nursing curriculum to improve the quality of education process and outcomes which will result in improving the students’ performance. Flipped teaching provides an interactive learning environment that enhances the development of essential nursing competencies, such as communication, teamwork, collaboration, life-long learning, clinical reasoning, and critical thinking. For example, flipped teaching allows students to develop communication skills throughout discussion in the classroom, and collaboration skills by working with their classmate and instructor. In this study, flipped teaching was implemented in a theoretical course (therapeutic communication course). This interactive learning strategy could also be applied in clinical and practice setting for effective and meaningful learning process and outcomes.

Strengths and limitations

This research study reveals the effectiveness of flipped teaching on students’ academic performance. This study used a quasi-experimental design with control and intervention groups to investigate the influence of flipped teaching on nursing education. Nevertheless, this study has limitations. One of the study’s limitations is the lack of randomization, thus causal association between the variables cannot be investigated. In addition, this study used a self-administered survey which may include respondents’ bias; thus, it may affect the results. Also, this study investigated students’ perceptions of flipped teaching as a learning strategy. The results from examining students’ perceptions indicated that students had a positive perception of flipped teaching as it allowed them to develop essential nursing competencies. This study did not focus on identifying and measuring competencies. Therefore, future studies must consider measuring the influence of flipped teaching on students’ ability to acquire nursing competencies, such as critical thinking and clinical reasoning.

Flipped teaching is an interactive learning strategy that depends on students’ preparation of the topic to be interactive learners in the learning environment. Interactive learning environment improves learning process and outcomes. This study indicated that flipped teaching has significant influence on students’ academic performance. Students perceived flipped teaching as a learning strategy that allowed them to acquire learning skills, such as logical thinking and application of knowledge. These skills allow students to have meaningful learning experience. Also, students could apply these skills in other learning content and/or environments, for example, in clinical. Thus, we believe that flipped teaching is an effective learning approach to be integrated in the nursing curriculum to enhance students’ learning experience.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to data privacy but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Institutional Review Board

Standard deviation

The level of marginal significance within a statistical test

Confidence Interval of the Difference

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the facilities and other support given by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R447), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This research was funded by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R447), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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Conceptualization, H.B, S.Y.A, W.A.; methodology, S.Y.A., S.H.A.; validation, S.Y.A.; formal analysis, S.Y.A.; resources, H.B, S.Y.A, W.A, R. A.; data curation, S.Y.A, S.H.A.; writing—original draft preparation, R.A, H.B, S.Y.A., S.H.A, W.A; writing—review and editing, R.A, H.B, S.Y.A, S.H.A, W.A; supervision, R.A, H.B, S.Y.A, S.H.A.; project administration, R.A, S.Y.A, S.H.A.; funding acquisition, S.Y.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Andargeery, S.Y., Bahri, H.A., Alhalwani, R.A. et al. Using a flipped teaching strategy in undergraduate nursing education: students’ perceptions and performance. BMC Med Educ 24 , 926 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05749-9

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In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, integrating smart classroom technology (SCT) is a transformative force, reshaping traditional paradigms and redefining the dynamics of teaching and learning. The study aims to investigate the transformative impact of SCT on educational practices, focusing on its effectiveness in enhancing student engagement, learning outcomes, and overall educational experience. The study analyzes the implementation of a smart classroom (SMR) system to enhance overall satisfaction and foster positive perceptions among students and faculty concerning the learning environment. The study employed a quantitative methodology and utilized the random sampling technique. The data were collected from 420 college students at different levels from junior level to senior category who received SMR education. The collected data were analyzed by using SPSS software. The findings indicate that incorporation of SCT systems positively impacts student engagement and participation levels in academic activities. The result underscores the role of SCT in fostering a dynamic learning environment that promotes active learning and knowledge retention among students, highlighting its outstanding academic significance in transforming traditional educational practices. The study contributes by examining the transformative potential of SMR systems in education, focusing on enhanced student engagement, collaboration, and digital literacy. Its novelty lies in revealing the positive impact on satisfaction and perceptions, heralding a new era of personalized learning experiences. Practical values of SMR technology include providing data for tailored instruction and enabling personalized learning through interactive whiteboards and digital textbooks. Academically, it enhances understanding and retention with multimedia resources that cater to diverse learning styles.

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A.) Sample of Questionnaire Distributed to College Students

Section 1: demographic information:.

Name (Optional):

18—20 years

21—22 years

23 and above

College Year:

Others (please specify)

College/University:

Nankai University

Yangzhou University

Shihezi University

Nanchang University

Chongqing Technology and Business University

Section 2: SMR Perception:

How familiar are you with the concept of an SMR system?

Very familiar

Somewhat familiar

Somewhat unfamiliar

Very unfamiliar

To what extent do you believe the implementation of an SMR system can positively impact AP?

Strong Disagree

Do you think utilizing advanced technology in classrooms will enhance students’ EP in academic activities?

In your opinion, will the integration of SMR tools lead to improved CC among students and faculty members?

Probably not

Do you believe students exposed to an SMR environment will demonstrate increased proficiency in DLS compared to those in traditional classrooms?

Strongly Believe

Do Not Believe

Strongly Do Not Believe

To what extent do you agree that the adoption of an SMR system will contribute to a more PAL experience for students, catering to diverse learning?

How do you think the implementation of an SMR system will impact overall satisfaction and perceptions among students and faculty regarding the learning environment?

Very positively

Very Negatively

How often do you engage in the SMR learning activity?

Do you think the use of SMR increased your AP?

Strongly disagree

Strongly agree

Do you believe SMR-based learning will help prepare you for future job opportunities?

Does SMR-based learning develop collaboration between students and teachers?

SMR education stimulates students to actively engage and participate in academic activities. Do you agree with this statement?

Is the SMR helpful for collecting worldwide data apart from your curriculum?

Does visualized learning develop your memory retention and develop your classroom discussion?

Does the SMR environment stimulate students to engage in the learning activities effectively?

SMR learning stimulated diverse learning styles among students. Do you agree with this statement?

Does SMR learning bring satisfaction to your learning experiences?

Do you think SMR has the potential to improve the academic outcomes of slow-learning students?

Does SMR develop communication among teachers and students?

Do you believe SMR is useful for accessing various resources for gathering details apart from the textbook content?

Which one would you feel is better for the learning process: traditional classroom or SMR learning?

Traditional class

Smart class

Please provide any additional comments or feedback regarding the implementation of an SMR system or any other factors you think are relevant to this study.

Thank you for participating in this survey! Your input is valuable for this research.

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About this article

Xu, L. Navigating the Educational Landscape: The Transformative Power of Smart Classroom Technology. J Knowl Econ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02233-z

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Received : 30 January 2024

Accepted : 24 July 2024

Published : 02 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02233-z

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