Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Case-Based Learning: Situated Cognition and Collaborative Learning Theory

A historical and theoretical perspective on Case-Based Learning (CBL) establishes the method as derived from an established and prestigious tradition of education inaugurated at Harvard University. CBL was fed then by the reigning constructivist theories of education, which spun off the two related educational theories of Situated Cognition and Collaborative Learning Theory. These theories will be seen to provide a solid grounding for case-based learning with its main prongs of learning in context, and in groups. These, it will be argued, are currently sought-after educational outcomes where learning stems from real-life situations, student prior knowledge and experience, and can be used and applied. A case study of Taiwan University illustrates the influence of these perspectives on actual case teaching design.