In the current context of higher education, active methodologies have gained attention for their ability to promote meaningful, collaborative, and contextualized learning. Among these methodologies, Case-Based Learning (CBL) stands out for its potential to simulate complex professional situations that require critical analysis, reasoned deliberation, and informed decision making. However, despite its growing application in degrees such as medicine, law, or psychology, there is still conceptual confusion about its nature, differences from related approaches (such as problem-based or project-based learning), as well as gaps in the empirical evidence supporting its efficacy.

This study aims to respond to this need through a theoretical and empirical review of CBL in the university environment. From a conceptual frame, a delimitation of the method is proposed, considering its definition, structure, pedagogical foundations, implementation phases, types of cases, and differentiation from other active methodologies. Likewise, the theoretical support of CBL is analyzed from approaches such as social constructivism, situated learning, experiential learning, and intrinsic motivation, to understand why this strategy promotes transferable, deep, and ethically significant learning.

In parallel, a narrative review of recent empirical literature is presented, focusing on studies conducted in higher education. The results show improvements in academic performance, critical thinking, motivation, and the ability to apply knowledge in real contexts. Although the positive effects of CBL are well documented in areas such as health sciences, important limitations are identified: scarcity of studies in other disciplines, lack of rigorous experimental designs, and weak curricular integration in degrees such as Psychology, where its formative potential is high but little explored.

The study concludes by highlighting the usefulness of CBL as a tool for teaching innovation in university contexts, especially for the development of professional competencies. It provides guidelines for its implementation and identifies lines of research needed to consolidate its use in areas still little studied.

Keywords: Case-Based Learning, active learning methodologies, higher education, Professional competencies.