Student profiles and attitudes towards case-based learning in an online graduate instructional design course

Using a mixed methods design, this study examines graduate students’ perceptions of attitudinal learning regarding the use of case-based learning (CBL) methods in an online instructional design course. One hundred and thirty-three students completed a survey taken from the Attitudinal Learning Inventory (ALI) in weeks three and seven of the eight-week course. Using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), three classes of student types were identified: Skeptics who perceived low and declining attitudinal learning throughout the course, Adopters who perceived high and rising, and Advocates, who perceived very high and rising attitudes. Student reflection assignments on developing instructional design expertise using CBL, and a post-course questionnaire sent out five months after the course concluded were analyzed to gain further insights into student experiences and perspectives of both the course and CBL. Results indicated the majority of students perceived positive attitudinal learning throughout the course and had positive views of CBL as an instructional method. Students who struggled had less prior ID experience and seemed to exhibit a more negative perspective towards the course and CBL despite reporting less external challenges that impacted their learning in the course than the positive groups. Implications highlight the importance of facilitating SRL development and supplementing more novice CBL and ID students with additional support.