Teaching with Case Studies

Joe BandyAssistant Director of the Center for Teaching

Affiliated Faculty in Sociology

The Melian Dialogue

Debrief

• What did you notice about our discussion of the Melian case?

One Word Student Reflections

Enigma, collaborative, interesting, pressed, inventive, wow, provoking, pessimistic, frustration, proud, difficult, helpless, idealistic, catch-22, resist, struggle, liberation, reality, confusion, courage, bravery, enlightening, intriguing, illuminating, wondrous, awkward, overwhelming, unsolvable, enthralling, unfinished, ambitious, intense, infinite, complex, exciting, invigorating, refreshing, intimidating, uncomfortable, thoughtful, fun, touching, intractable, inspiring, sad

Defining Case Studies

1. Complex, real world scenarios2. Supporting information3. Open-ended problems4. Prompts and questions

Defining Case Studies

• Focus– Descriptive or illustrative– Decision or action oriented– Debates– Simulations or games

• Lengths– Long form narratives or simulations– Short-form cases– Minicases– Bullet cases

Impact

Bloom’s Taxonomy, revised

Impact

• Affective learning• Self-direction • Responsibility for learning• Oral presentation• Communication• Cooperation• Citizenship

Authentic & Engaging Problems

Inquiry based learning

“…careful inspection of methods which are permanently successful in formal education… will reveal that they depend for their efficiency upon the fact that they go back to the type of situation which causes reflection out of school in ordinary life…. They give the pupil something to do, not something to learn, and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking.”

John Dewey, Democracy and Education. 1916

Active, social learning

“…the students strive to resolve questions that have no single right answer. Their differing views and approaches produce a creative tension that fuels the enterprise and a synergistic outcome that both recognizes and exceeds their individual contributions. In their effort to find solutions and reach decisions through discussion, they sort out factual data, apply analytical tools, articulate issues, reflect on their relevant experience, and draw conclusions they can carry forward to new situations.

– Boehrer, J. and M. Linsky. “Teaching with Cases: Learning to Question.” In M.D. Svinicki (ed.), The Changing Face of College

Passive Learning Active Learning

Receive ideas Offer ideas

Answer questions Raise questions

Hearing analyses Making analyses

Examining texts Engaging texts

Accepting assumptions Challenging assumptions

Faculty-Student dialogue Student-Student dialogue

Faculty locus Student locus

Case Teaching Methods

• Clarify objectives• Plan and Prepare• Organize discussion– Small teams– Clear project goals– Clear roles– Clear schedule for writing, presentations

Case Teaching Methods

• Discussion– Disclose context– Questioning to explore relevant angles

• Analysis of the problem• Application of theory

– Listening carefully, paraphrasing– Capturing positions and suggested actions– Clarification of debates - differences, compromises– Next steps for research, discussion, action– Lessons– Evaluation

Case Teaching Methods

• Writing cases– Backwards design– Open ended, no one right answer– Presents enough information for analysis– Presents, not evaluates problem– Allows for multiple realistic positions– Use and edit

• Student cases– Experience with cases in class– Heightens benefits of case teaching– Best cases

Case Sites• Science– National Center for Case Study Teaching in Scien

ce

• Engineering and Material Sciences– Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Resear

ch– UK Centre for Materials Education

• Business– Harvard Business School – University of Washington,

Evans School of Public Affairs

Case Sites• Political Science or Policy

– Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, Case Studies in Public Policy & Management

– McGill University Peacebuilding Simulation– University of Washington, Evans School of Public Affairs

• Other social sciences– Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government,

Case Studies in Public Policy & Management – University of California, Santa Barbara Case List

• History– Women in World History, Teaching Case Studies

• Multiculturalism and diversity– Online Ethics Center – U of Minnesota, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs,

Center on Women and Public Policy

Discussion

Think of a course and a potential lesson for which you might like to teach a case study. What benefits and challenges do you foresee?

If you already teach using the case method, how might you enhance your use of it?

Discussion