ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1652075
Advancing Public Health Competencies: A Practice-Driven Pedagogical Reform Integrating Case Studies, Fieldwork, and Digital Simulation
Provisionally accepted
- Guilin Medical University, Guilin, China
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This study addresses documented limitations of traditional teaching methods— specifically low engagement and insufficient practical skills development in public health graduate education—by implementing a reformed pedagogical model for the "Occupational Environment and Population Health" module (Guilin Medical University Master of Public Health program, 2023 cohort). Integrating case-based learning, field immersion, and digital simulation technologies within smart classroom ecosystems, the reform cohort (n=35) achieved significantly higher knowledge scores (82.09 ± 1.88) compared with the traditional cohort (79.71 ± 1.70, p < 0.05), alongside elevated course satisfaction. Longitudinal knowledge testing (pretest, posttest, delayed posttest) further indicated superior knowledge retention in the reform group. Questionnaire-based evaluation confirmed notable improvements in problem-solving ability, professional knowledge mastery, learning motivation, and career orientation. Factor analysis validated a robust three-dimensional framework measuring Career Development, Competency Enhancement, and Course Satisfaction, confirming the reliability of the evaluation system. The findings provide preliminary empirical evidence for the application of case-based, practice-oriented pedagogy in public health education, though its broader value still requires further validation across larger samples and diverse settings.
Keywords: Case-based teaching, virtual simulation, Multidimensional evaluation system, Learning engagement, public health education
Received: 23 Jun 2025; Accepted: 16 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zheng, Kang, Wang, Li and Sun. 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: Yan Sun, 13946167049@163.com
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