This exploratory study examined how students responded to, and approached learning from, case-based instruction. Students' responses were defined in terms of their perceived interest, relevance, and confidence for learning from this method. Students' approaches were defined by goals, self-regulation strategies, and the evaluation criteria they used to focus their learning efforts. Fifty-eight first-year veterinary students in a case-based biochemistry laboratory course were classified according to their precourse performances on two self-regulated learning inventories. Nine students, representing high and low levels of self-regulation, were interviewed three times during the semester to explore initial and changing responses and approaches to case-based instruction. Using a constant comparative analysis method, three general categories were identified that reflected common themes in students' responses and approaches. These themes revolved around: (1) the value that students assigned to the case method of teaching; (2) the types of goals and evaluation criteria they used to focus their learning efforts; and (3) the manner in which they used reflective strategies to approach case-based instruction. (Contains 1 table and 17 references.) (Author)