Between theory and practice. Digital case work as a reflective learning space for professionalization in social and health-related professions

Digitale Fallarbeit als reflexiver Lernraum für Professionalisierung in sozialen und gesundheitsbezogenen Berufen

Abstract

Professional practice in social and health-related professions requires an integrated combination of theoretical knowledge, practical experience, and reflective competence. However, a structural theory-practice problem has long been evident in university education: key practical professional requirements are predominantly taught in an abstract manner, while authentic practical situations can only be experienced to a limited extent. This hinders the development of profession-specific judgment skills and leads to uncertainty in dealing with complex communication and counseling situations (Franz, Spatscheck, and van Rießen 2024; Hempel et al. 2021; Diederichs and Desoye 2023).

This article presents the joint project funded by oercontent.nrw and discusses its potential for promoting reflective professionalization. DigiFall is a digital, group-based self-assessment tool designed as an open educational resource and available to students of social and health-related degree programs. At the core of the tool are videotaped case scenarios with branching elements that depict realistic, often ambivalent communication and counseling situations. Supplementary materials such as profiles and structured task formats support in-depth, problem-oriented case processing.

Didactically, DigiFall is based on the principles of problem-oriented learning and explicitly guided reflection and feedback phases (Claus and Wiese 2021). The learning environment was developed in an iterative, empirically based process involving students, teachers, and practitioners from various professions to ensure relevance and connectivity (Winkelkotte et al. 2023). Theoretically, the concept ties in with assumptions of situated and experience-based learning, according to which professional competence arises in particular when dealing with concrete situations (Car et al. 2019; Lubna 2020).

A central feature of DigiFall is the absence of dichotomous right/wrong logic. Instead, different courses of action are presented, varying in quality. This allows professional action to be experienced as a situational decision-making process under uncertainty and systematically encourages reflective self-reference. Initial qualitative evaluation results from implementation in various teaching/learning settings indicate that DigiFall supports practical learning processes, critical reflection, and profession-specific role clarification. 

At the same time, it is clear that the effectiveness of digital case work depends largely on its curricular integration and didactic framework. DigiFall unfolds its professionalization potential particularly when digital case work is systematically combined with reflection phases and intertwined with real-life practical experience. The article thus makes an empirically and theoretically sound contribution to the discussion of innovative digital teaching/learning formats and to the further development of reflective learning cultures in social and health-related degree programs.