Case Studies

Element · All elements
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 mixed) · 2 studies (2 qualitative), q1–q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

Case studies are the element in which learners analyze a concrete scenario, incident, or example in order to reason about concepts, decisions, or consequences. They are useful when learning benefits from applying ideas to situated complexity.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• A case with meaningful details and decision points
• Prompts that ask for analysis rather than summary

Constraints

• Thin or overly tidy cases may not support rich reasoning

Target Learning Goals

• Support applied analysis, judgment, and discussion.

Affordances

• Case Studies/Case-based Learning
• Constructivist Learning

Claims

• The closer training content is to authentic clinical scenarios, the smoother its translation into practice [+W]
• In a qualitative pilot with 10 speech-language pathology graduate students, most felt the Simucase assessment cases lacked authenticity because they included too few behavioral modifications [~W]

Related Elements

• Case Study
• Problem Scenario
• Assigned Readings

Patterns That Use This Element

• Case-Based Learning (Harvard Method)
• Problem-Based Learning

Examples

• Learners analyze a business case, patient case, or legal case and justify a response.

Key Sources

• Herreid, C. F. (2011). Case study teaching. NSTA Press.

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	element
id	case-studies
title	Case Studies
description	Case studies are the element in which learners analyze a concrete scenario, incident, or example in order to reason about concepts, decisions, or consequences.
status	review
canonical	True
generated	by codex/unspecified on 2026-04-08
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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