Effective Case-Based Learning Platforms for Social Work and Public Health Approaches: A Systematic Review

Overview: This session presents a systematic review study of social work and public health literature that synthesizes available evidence of the effects of case-based learning on student learning. The results guided the development of frameworks for case studies to develop an open access platform for global social work educators.Proposal text:

Background: In recent years, there has been a significant interest in global social work as an area of expertise among social workers in the United States as well as internationally. International social work courses diverge widely in the course content and objectives, teaching strategies and lack guidelines to aid instructors with course development and teaching. The case study approach, which has been utilized in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for multiple initiatives, including Teaching Cases in Global Health and the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders, may be useful in global social work education. However, cases across these platforms vary in what is available and what educational resources are included, and are not developed with a social work lens, making it challenging for educators to find appropriate cases to use for international social work classes. The overall objective of the current project was to develop a sharable international social work education case-based curriculum through an open access forum, designed to bring the global context into American social work classroom and to support instructors teaching international social work courses. This project builds upon CSWE’s Teaching International Social Work: Online Modules by adding an online case study platform where educators can both access materials and add their own content to be shared. During Phase I of the project, investigators analyzed best practices related to case study instruction. A systematic review was be conducted to synthesize existing studies and examine the effectiveness of case-based learning frameworks.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to identify, describe, and synthesize the available evidence of the effects of case-based learning on student learning of social work and public health.

Methods: Systematic review methods were used to identify, select, and synthesize studies that met eligibility criteria for this study. Through a comprehensive search that included multiple electronic databases, research registers, grey literature sources, and reference lists of reviews and relevant studies, published and unpublished studies that met the inclusion criteria were identified and retrieved.

Results: The search yielded 745 results. After the initial screening of the titles and abstracts, 62 studies remained and went through the full text review process. Of those, 19 met full inclusion criteria and were included in the final review. The systematic review guided the development of frameworks for both case-based learning and problem-based learning for case studies to be used to develop the open access platform for global social work educators. In addition, thematic analysis was used to identify key areas of lessons learned that included: instructor support, understanding of the process, clear expectations, and additional resources. These lessons learned, which will be used as the case studies are developed and implemented in the classroom, will be share in this presentation.