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What is the case method? How can the case method be used to engage learners? What are some strategies for getting started? This guide helps instructors answer these questions by providing an overview of the case method while highlighting learner-centered and digitally-enhanced approaches to teaching with the case method.
This section of the Christensen Center website explores the Case Method in Practice along the following dimensions: Preparing to Teach; Leading in the Classroom; Providing Assessment and Feedback; Sample Class
Using a case-based approach engages students in discussion of specific scenarios that resemble or typically are real-world examples. This method is learner-centered with intense interaction between participants as they build their knowledge and work together as a group to examine the case.
To assist both experienced and new case-method teachers, each case has its own teaching plan: a flexible road-map for the instructor that suggests specific questions, strategies for eliciting key insights, and ideas for organizing student responses visually on a blackboard.
Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action plan, proposal or decision.
Through an incremental process of preparation, practice, self-reflection, and peer and student feedback, instructors find that the case method allows their knowledge of, and passion for, their field of expertise to inspire and transform their students and themselves.
To make case studies an effective form of assessment, instructors and tutors need to be familiar with their use in both teaching and assessment. This applies whether teachers are developing the case studies for their courses themselves or using those developed by others.
