Clinical imagination: dynamic case studies using an attribute listing matrix.

The Attribute Listing Matrix Case Study (ALMCS) is an active instructional strategy for use in the classroom or clinical laboratory designed to engage the learner at the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels of Bloom's cognitive domain. Random numbers are used to generate multiple versions of case studies within a matrix that contains categories of real-world variables. Nursing students, either individually or in small groups, can then use the nursing process to analyze the patient case and design an individualized care plan. The ALMCS can be readily adapted to any level of nursing education and to any clinical specialty. It can be used in the classroom to show students how they will apply theoretical knowledge to real clinical situations, or it can be used for summative assessment by generating a random case for students to respond to in an examination.