Teaching-as-Research Project: Case Based Learning

During my first year of graduate school, I knew I was interested in pursuing academia after graduation and wanted to learn more about teaching pharmacy students. I asked my faculty advisor, Dr. Michelle Chui, to sit in on her Safety and Quality in the Medication Use System ("Med Safety") course in order to audit and observe a class I could eventually see myself teaching as a faculty member.

While sitting in the back of the classroom each week, I noticed that attendance in the lectures often waxed and waned. I couldn't discern a pattern or predict the week-to-week variability in class numbers so I asked several students about their peers' attendance. The students informed me that attendance wasn't required and instead, students were using afternoon class time to complete other mandatory pharmacy practice experiences that were required for graduation but didn't have specific time allocated in the their schedules.

In addition to missing lectures, the students shared that group work for their final Med Safety course project was also sub-divided and completed individually due to clashing schedules (e.g., completing these mandatory experiences, working at paid internships, or other personal commitments). Students admitted that it was "easier" to work independently rather than collaboratively, even if that meant compiling the final "group" project the night before or the morning it was due.

I leveraged these observations and conversations with pharmacy students as part of my internship with the Delta Program in Research, Teaching, and Learning. I completed a teaching-as-research project by partnering with my faculty advisor and transforming one of the Med Safety course's mandatory discussion sessions into case-based learning session to incorporate cooperative learning best practices and positively contribute towards productive group work that could be used in their final project.

What are student perceptions of a case based learning discussion session that incorporates cooperative learning best practices?

Developing the Case Based Learning Discussion Session

To begin the project, I utilized literature in case based instruction and the five pillars of cooperative learning to develop a discussion session for Med Safety Students.

The session used case based learning as the "vehicle" to promote collaborative learning amongst students. I hypothesized that students would perceive a case based discussion as stimulating and positively contributing towards their experience of cooperative learning.

Above: The 5 Pillars of Cooperative Learning (Jones and Jones, 2008) and how they appeared in my project. For example, the case exemplified positive interdependence by assigning students roles within their groups.

Below: Student Perceptions and Feedback Survey items pertaining to the 5 Pillars of Cooperative Learning

Case Based Learning

During the discussion session, students were separated into their final project groups and given cases to work through together.

Case A: Parata Max High-Speed, Vial Filling Robot

Case B: EXACTAMIX Automated Compounding System

The cases assigned students roles within their group and provided step-by-step instructions to 1) complete the task and 2) present their findings to another group who had the "opposite" case.

For this teaching-as-learning project, I not only had to develop the cases but also the case solutions and instructions for the teaching assistants who would be facilitating the discussion sessions.

Student Perceptions and Feedback

At the end of the discussion session, I asked students to reflect on the session, how it contributed to their experiences working in groups and cooperative learning, and provide feedback via a paper survey.

Student Feedback Survey

Results

Student perceptions regarding how much the discussion session stimulated their interest in the subject

Of the 140 students enrolled in the course, 105 completed the student perception survey (75% response rate).

47% of students indicated the discussion session stimulated their interest in the course subject "Some"

38% of students indicated the discussion session stimulated their interest in the course subject "Quite A Bit" or "A Great Deal"

Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

50% of the students stated the discussion session promoted "A Great Deal" of face-to-face interaction
30% of the students stated the discussion session promoted "Quite A Bit" of face-to-face interaction

Group Processing

10% of students stated the discussion session provided "Not at All" or "A Little" time for the group to reflect on its performance
34% of students stated the discussion session provided "Some" time for the group to reflect on its performance

Student perceptions regarding how much the discussion session matched the intended pillars of cooperative learning. The percentages to the right of the figure indicate the students who perceived the discussion session positively influenced the indicated pillar.

Developing of a teaching-as-research project (as well as course content) was a challenging yet rewarding process. The project focused not on the development of “good” cases for case based learning (CBL), but instead the impact of CBL on the pillars of cooperative learning.

My key takeaways from the project were:

Yes, group case based learning can be used to promote the pillars of cooperative learning in the classroom
Given students time to "practicing" desired behaviors (i.e., cooperative learning and group work) in discussion sessions with formative feedback is important so that students can then "perform" the desired behaviors on larger projects (like final group projects)
When possible, utilize pre-developed cases or evidence based case-design

From my internship, I am confident in my abilities to find and utilize evidence-based teaching practices as well as the wealth of resources available through CIRTL and other scholarship of teaching and learning institutions. In the future, I look to apply what I have learned from completing this project to a future faculty position. I am cognizant of the pillars of cooperative learning and utilize evidence based practices (such as CBL) to promote not only knowledge based outcomes, but affective learning outcomes (i.e. teamwork) as well.

Want to Read More?

Teaching-as-Research Presentation

I presented my project and findings at a national Center for Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) webinar. Click on the image to the left to view the slides!

Delta Internship Program Report

Here is the full report from my teaching-as-research project as submitted to the Delta Program in 2018.

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