From Clinical Practice to the Classroom. Advantages and Disadvantages of Video and Paper Cases on the Motivation and Clinical Reasoning of Occupational Therapy Students

Case-based learning enables the application of theory to practice using real-life patient cases. The present study aims to compare the effect between video cases and paper cases on motivation for learning and knowledge acquisition to perform a clinical reasoning case exercise by occupational therapy students. A mixed-methods design was used with 120 students randomized into two groups. All students conducted a clinical reasoning case exercise on the same case, although in different presentation formats: paper case and video case. The quantitative measures of this study were the scores of motivation for learning from the Instructional Material Motivation Survey and the grades of a clinical reasoning case exercise. The qualitative part was based on the positive and negative aspects perceived by the participants. The results showed that the motivation for learning was significantly higher for the video case compared to the paper case, although there were no differences in the grades of the clinical reasoning case exercise between the two groups. The video cases were perceived as more relevant to professional practice and more informative in terms of non-verbal communication and context. In light of the results, teachers could use these two formats of presentation of cases with different objectives.