"Shooting in the dark" versus "Breaking it down": Understanding students' approaches to case-based instruction

Although the literature is replete with claims of the benefits of case-based instruction, few researchers have examined how individual students respond to and approach learning from this instructional method. In this paper we paint a picture of the contrasting experiences of two students enrolled in a case-based biochemistry laboratory course. These experiences are highlighted to support and extend knowledge gained from the first author's study of the responses and approaches of a freshman class of veterinary students recently introduced to case-based instruction. In the primary study, nine students were interviewed three times during the semester to explore their initial and changing responses and approaches to the case method. Using a constant comparative analysis method, three common themes were identified. In this paper we illustrate these themes by contrasting two students' responses and approaches to the same casebased course.