94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Drugs Outcomes Research and Policies
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1529492
This article is part of the Research Topic Clinical Pharmacist Service Promotes the Improvement of Medical Quality Volume II View all 44 articles
Undergraduate Pharmacy Students' Preference for Case-Based Learning: A Discrete Choice Experiment in China
Provisionally accepted- 1 School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
- 2 School of International Pharmaceutical Business, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
Background: Understanding students' preferences is crucial for developing targeted teaching strategies and improving educational outcomes. This study aimed to investigate Chinese undergraduate pharmacy students' preferences for case-based learning (CBL).Methods: We conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to quantify preferences for CBL. Six key attributes associated with CBL preferences were identified: case modality, provider type, group size, case authenticity, case complexity, and examination format. An online questionnaire was administered to undergraduate pharmacy students from two universities in China. The data were analyzed using a mixed logit model to estimate preference weights, assess the relative importance of the attributes, and predict uptake rates. Additionally, interaction effects and subgroup analysis were employed to identify heterogeneity in preferences among different student groups.Results: A total of 613 participants completed the questionnaire and 482 participants were included in the analysis. The most influential attribute was case modality, with scenario simulation strongly preferred over paper modality. Case authenticity and provider type were also significant factors, followed by group size and case complexity. Examination format did not significantly affect preferences. We found heterogeneity in preferences between different groups of students. The highest uptake was achieved when cases were presented in scenario simulations by clinical instructors in small groups, using real cases of low complexity alongside the traditional written examination.Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of case modality with scenario simulation, case authenticity, and provider by clinical instructors among Chinese undergraduate pharmacy students for CBL, and suggests the need for personalized CBL approaches to accommodate different preferences.
Keywords: Case-based learning, Discrete choice experiment, Undergraduate pharmacy student, Learning preference, Pharmacy education
Received: 17 Nov 2024; Accepted: 13 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guo, He and Yan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jianzhou Yan, School of International Pharmaceutical Business, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.