Understanding The Case Method

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UNDERSTANDING THE

CASE METHOD

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Effectiveness of Case Teaching

Classification of Case Methods

Characteristics of Cases Educational Objectives of Cases

Roles of Participants in Cases

Data Dimensions of Cases

Analytical Methods for Cases

Value Dimensions of Cases

Tabular Summary

CONTENTS OF THE PRESENTATION

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Case teaching is more effective than lecture

teaching with regard to attaining cognitive as well

as motivational aims in the classroom.

Franz Bocker

EFFECTIVENESS OF CASE TEACHING

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Case studies bring problems and approaches from

managerial world to the classroom.

Cases provide tools that allow students to simulate

managing a company.

Due to their inductive nature, Case methods enable

students acquire cognitive skills and managerial

abilities more comprehensively than through lecture

teaching.


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Research Study by Franz Bocker

Hypothesis 1 : Case teaching develops the ability to

reproduce knowledge and learned skills better than lecture

teaching.

Hypothesis 2: Case teaching develops the ability to apply

knowledge and learned skills better than lecture teaching.

Hypothesis 3 : Case teaching motivates students to learn

managerial information more than lecture teaching does.


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Research Study by Franz Bocker

Outcome :

Case motivates students to learn, thus yields better

results. However, case teaching requires teacher to spend

more time preparing the course, and it requires more

time for students to get through a specific topic. Thus,

the question of teaching efficiency (i.e. result/output) is

still open.


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Deductive Teaching Process Cases are used to demonstrate

real-world practices and to liven up the teaching.

Inductive Teaching Process Cases can be used as the

foundation of an integrated inductively driven teaching

process.

CLASSIFICATION OF CASE METHODS

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Deductive Case Method Inductive Case Method

* Teacher starts with ageneral rule and derivesspecific recommendationsfrom the cases.

Students are asked todevelop general rules ofproblem solving fromspecific experiences.

* Student is a passiverecipient.

Student is an activerecipient.

* Lecturers can follow logicalstructure of the studymaterial.

Course material needs to beclustered and aggregated ina way that facilitatesinductive learning.

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Deductive Case Method Inductive Case Method

* One problem can be treatedmore or less exhaustivelybefore another problem isattacked.

All problems withindiscussion are dealt with inparallel due to closeinterdependencies.

* The onus of driving theteaching lies primarily on the

shoulders of the professor.

Student and professor sharethe responsibility for driving

the inductive process: theymust interactively gauge theongoing flow of content andprocess.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CASES

Cases can be characterized by :

The amount and nature of the facts presented.

Type of pedagogy they facilitate: student-involvement or supplementary to Lecture.

The signals they convey about appropriate

analytical methods or techniques.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CASES

Cases can be characterized by :

The value systems under which the case problemor issue may be resolved.

Cases can also be particularized by course topic,level of problem focus, and a host of other

elements, including whether they deal with largeor small business, local or international markets,etc.

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EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES OF CASES

Category Educational Objective Case Description

Vi Acquire skills in

synthesis of actionplans

Problem with clear

emphasis on action

VII Develop usefulattitudes

V, VI, VII with emphasison key executives

VIII Develop maturejudgments, wisdom

Complex, realisticunstructured problem

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ROLE OF PARTICIPANTS IN CASES

Case Writer

Decide level of abstraction of facts

Provide scope for analysis.

Give space for value judgment.

Avoid explicitly introducing narrow profit-oriented value system

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There are two major faces of data dimensions

of cases :

1. Amount of data included (in tables, caseparagraphs, etc.)

2. Clustering / Aggregation of the data to signal

inherent message

DATA DIMENSIONS OF CASES

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In the early stages, facts are conveniently

clustered to help the student understand the

exact message the writer sends.

At advanced levels, less structured, disperseddata and facts are included to make student

asses the possibility of alternate analytical

techniques and value systems.

Sometimes case may deliberately containirrelevant data to judge the students ability to

identify important facts from a welter of stimuli

competing for attention.

DATA DIMENSIONS OF CASES

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In early stages, an appropriate case should be at

the level of worked-out example, in which all the

facts are fitted neatly into place.

As the class becomes more and more skilled in

technique, case should become less and less

organized.

ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR CASES

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At advanced levels, students should be expected

to try out number of analytical techniques to see

which one best makes sense of case data.

At the extreme levels entire onus of learning

shifts to the student as Wisdom Cant Be

Told. Gragg

ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR CASES

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In the basic levels, objective functions and value

judgments can be explicitly stated and could be

as plain as efficiency(cost minimization) orprofitability(profit maximization).

As soon as class is ready to acquire skills, the

choice of objective function should be as open as

the choice of analytical method.

VALUE DIMENSIONS OF CASES

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As the class evolves, the cases should move

towards intractable business problems where

two or more value systems are in conflict.

Example: A case can introduce a profit oriented

value system against externalities such as

pollution control and energy conservation.

VALUE DIMENSIONS OF CASES

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Category

EducationalObjective

CaseDescription

DataDimension

AnalyticalMethods

ValueDimensions

I & II Developconcepts

Exposition ofproblem inBusiness

Facts clusteredto highlightcause-effectrelationship

Worked-outexample

Objectivefunctionsmade explicit

III Understandtechniques

IV Acquireskills in useof technique

Short,realistic,structuredProblem

Facts selectedfor relevance,not clustered

Method justsignaled

Valuesystemsclear(usuallyprofitoriented) but

objectivefunctionopen forchoice bystudent

TABULAR SUMMARY OF CASE CHARACTERISTICS

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Cate

gory

Educational

Objective

Case Description Data Dimension Analytical

Methods

Value

Dimensions

V Acquire skillsin analysis ofbusinessproblems

Complex,unstructuredslice of life

More facts areadded mainlywithin one valuesystem butamenable tomore than one

analyticalmethod

No clearsignals formethods,analyticaltechniqueopen to

studentschoice,includingmixed andsequentialanalysis

Valuesystemsclear(usually profitoriented)but

objectivefunctionopen forchoice bystudent

Vi Acquire skillsin synthesis of

action plans

Problem withclear emphasis

on action

VII Develop

usefulattitudes

V, VI, VII with

emphasis on keyexecutives

Facts related to

more than onevalue system,heavy use ofopinions of casecharacteristics

Choice of

valuesystemsleft open tostudent

VIII Developmaturejudgments,wisdom

Complex,realisticunstructuredproblem

No knownsatisfactorytechnique

TABULAR SUMMARY OF CASE CHARACTERISTICS

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THANK YOU!

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Understanding The Case Method