Case-based learning, or CBL, is a teaching approach that asks students to apply what they know to realistic problems, weigh their options, and make decisions before the consequences are real. Today, the approach has evolved well beyond reading a case and discussing it in class.
The studies included in a new George Mason review capture some of these newer approaches. Students on a pediatric orthopedic rotation may work through cases together on WeChat. Medical students can test their judgment in high-pressure scenarios using lifelike mannequins. And in health administration, educators are experimenting with ChatGPT to generate cases that put management concepts into practice.
The new scoping review, led by George Mason University College of Public Health researcher John Cantiello with co-author Renee Geschke, pulls together 83 articles published from 2017 through 2025 to examine how case-based learning is changing and what supports its effective use.
The paper is published in the Journal of Health Administration Education's new special issue focused on case studies, simulations, and gamification.
"Technology is opening up new possibilities for case-based learning, including realistic simulations and feedback tailored to individual students," said Cantiello, professor in the Department of Health Administration, Policy, and Informatics. "Across the literature, a recurring theme was the importance of using those tools within carefully designed cases that asked students to work through realistic problems, make decisions, and apply what they were learning. Faculty guidance, discussion, and feedback remained central to that process."
The review is especially relevant to health administration because only limited research has focused specifically on case-based learning in the field. Cantiello and Geschke looked to related areas including nursing, public health, medicine, and business for approaches that could transfer to educating future health care administrators.
What makes case-based learning effective?
The review points to several lessons for educators:
- Use technology for a reason. New tools have dramatically expanded the possibilities for case-based learning. Simulations and virtual or augmented reality can let students practice inside a realistic scenario. Mobile platforms can make cases easier to use outside the classroom, while AI can help generate cases or provide feedback.
But the review found that newer doesn't necessarily mean better. For example, generative AI can omit important information or produce inaccurate answers, and students may come to rely on it too heavily. The review emphasized choosing technology to support specific learning goals, rather than treating the tool itself as the innovation.
- Make students do something with the problem. Flipped classrooms, peer instruction, team-based cases, and interdisciplinary exercises ask students to make decisions and explain their reasoning, often alongside classmates approaching the problem differently. Across the reviewed studies, these more active approaches were linked to stronger critical thinking, problem-solving, and engagement.
- Give students detailed guidance. A complex scenario alone does not guarantee useful learning. The review emphasized setting clear learning goals, presenting structured cases, providing timely instructor feedback, and guiding discussion so it stays focused directly on the goals of the lesson.
- Support the instructors, too. Developing successful cases takes time and skill, and programs need faculty training, technical support, and curriculum planning if they want these approaches to last.
Cantiello said the next step is more research focused directly on health administration. "More discipline-specific research is needed, particularly around outcomes such as leadership, decision-making, implementation at scale, and how the effectiveness of case-based learning should be measured," he said.
The Journal of Health Administration Education special issue also features Phillip Zane and Deborah Goldberg's research on game-based learning .
