An evaluation of students' perceptions of the use of case-based teaching and group work in a first-year nursing programme - R Cassimjee

Students' evaluation of teaching and learning methods is often underplayed and misjudged, yet students are the best assessors as they are the consumers of this service (Cassimjee and Brookes 1998, 1). Also, as students are exposed to different teaching methods on a daily basis, most of them are well equipped to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each. The teaching of clinical programmes, for example nursing, involves different strategies for the teaching of theoretical and practical material. Case-based education (CBE) uses simulated or real-life cases to present a scenario to the students for learning. This was a descriptive study which evaluated students' perspections of CBE. A semi-structured 19-point self-administered student opinion questionnaire (SOQ) was used to collect the information. The findings show that students viewed CBE in a positive light and felt that it increased their ability to prepare their work for class and to then participate fully. Seventy percent of the students felt that CBE assisted them in acquiring the necessary skills for problem-solving. However, the students felt that some students were lazy and did not contribute or participate in any way. Almost half the students (47.8%) found the course interesting and manageable.
From: SAJHE 21 (3) 2007 pp. 412-428