Date of Award

Summer 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Suha Tamim

Abstract

Physician Assistant (PA) education is rigorous and comprehensive. In only 27 months, the students must learn medical knowledge and skills for effective patient care. Instruction must be efficient and effective to teach these students how to be safe and functional PAs. Of primary concern is teaching students how to perform like clinicians, which requires critical thinking, self-directed learning, and teamwork.

This convergent, mixed-methods action research explored the impacts of case-based learning (CBL) in the PA classroom. The findings support using CBL to develop clinical reasoning skills, improve comprehension of the material, and develop self-directed learning skills. CBL requires the students to work together; through this collaboration, the students learn from one another. They respected the opportunity to learn from their peers and share different perspectives. The students valued CBL and wanted more opportunities to participate in this learning method.

Rights

© 2025, Pamela Schindler Wilson

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