Case authoring for the class-room and web-based self-directed learning: the road from basic data to a polished case

 Thomas Link ¹
Martin Aigner <sup>2

1</sup> Medical University of Vienna, Core Unit Medical Education, Methodik und Entwicklung, Vienna, Austria
² Medical University of Vienna, Department of Psychatry and Psychotherapy, Vienna, Austria

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Workshop

At the Medical University of Vienna, we developed a set of cases in order to support training in psychiatry. These cases are meant to be used in the class-room as well as in a web-based software system (Casus) to enable self-directed learning. In this workshop, we present our approach to case authoring based on PowerPoint presentations originally prepared for lectures with a four step method (information, questions, answers, discussion). Other topics are: history of case studies; didactics of case-based teaching and learning (with special mention of cognitive apprenticeship and anchored instruction); the 4 types of case studies

1. Case-Study-Method,
2. Case-Problem-Method,
3. Case-Incident-Method and
4. the Stated-Problem-Method;

characteristics of a good case (relevant, realistic, engaging, challenging); important criteria for the evaluation of cases (effectiveness of the case, appropriateness of the content, attentive focus of the content, authenticity of the problem scenario, unity of organization, coherence of organization, clarity of presentation, effectiveness of questions); tips for case authoring.

The discussion focussed on the following topics:

• Possible uses of web-based case studies in teaching, e.g., as a requirement for attending a class-room session;
• Guidelines for evaluation of a case’s quality;
• Technical aspects of the implementations of web-based case studies;
• Collaboration and sharing case studies across medical schools.