Case studies can be a powerful teaching tool. A case study can be a narrative, situation, data set or statement that presents students with an unresolved or provocative issue. As a teaching tool, case studies challenge students to
- analyze
- critique
- make judgements
- speculate
- express reasoned opinions
The cases you use can be real or fictional. What matters is that the case is believable and rich enough to promote discussion and exploration. Your case may include information that is irrelevant to allow students the opportunity to sort through data. There is also usually some relevant data left out of a case so students have to think about how to fill in the blanks. For case studies that are based in real life, you may have students do research to fill in the missing information. With fictional case studies you may prompt students to use their general knowledge to fill in any blanks instead.
You don't have to find or create a specific type of data as a case. A paragraph of information, a graph or even a list of data can be a compelling case. There is also no prescribed length of time for working on a case study. Cases can serve as the framework for a single class session or you can work on a case for a whole course. Cases are important for bringing real world problems into your class. They promote active participation and may lead to innovative solutions to problems.
Case formats
There are many ways to construct a case.
- “Finished” cases based on a full set of facts—for analysis and prediction. Since the solution is part of the case, these cases are best for exploring what could have been done differently. Factual questions are not very useful with "finished" cases. Asking students to make a prediction or develop alternate strategies to the one in the case will lead to higher level thinking. If you already have a ‘finished’ case, it is easy to delete the final solutions so that students can solve the problem on their own. In this way, a ‘finished’ case can easily become open-ended.
- Open-ended cases do not include a full set of facts. These can be cases where the results are incomplete. This may bebecause you removed the solution or because one has not been reached. You can ask students to predict what will happen, or make choices and suggestions that will affect the ultimate outcome of the scenario.
- Fictional cases written by the instructor—can be open-ended or “finished”. Cautionary note: the case must be complex enough to mimic reality. Extraneous details can
- Primary sources paired with the right questions can form compelling case studies. Comparison between two documents or artifacts encourages analysis and synthesis. These cases provide opportunities for students to:
- present more than one side of an argument
- make any inherent conflicts more complex
- explore alternate strategies or solutions to a problem
- gain a higher level understanding of an overarching concept
How can I structure a class around a case?
Case discussion works best with groups of 3 to 6 students. Design your case in a way that the participants need to reach a conclusion, make a decision or reach a judgement. Ideally, the group will need to come to a consensus.
To structure the discussion, you will want to provide each group with a set of questions. Pay careful attention to the sequencing of the questions. Start with questions that prompt students to think about the facts of the case. Later questions could ask for comparisons, contrasts, and analysis. Finally, you can include a questin or set of questions that requires students to take a position. These questions should stimulate but not dictate participants’ observations and analyses. The questions should be impossible to answer with a simple yes or no, or by finding the answer online.
After the groups have discussed the case and reached their conclusions, you can debrief as a class. You may ask each group how they came to their conclusion. As the discussion goes on, actively evaluate the conclusions or solutions.
Allow groups to work towards their conclusion without instructor interference. Allow all answers equal weight in the first report out. The discussion after everyone has shared can examine the relative merits of each answer. Ensure all groups have a chance to share their answers during the discussion. If you signal that one answer is correct or better than the others this can shut down the discussion prematurely. The class-wide discussion is a valuable opportunity for peer to peer feedback and critical thinking.
If you are going to use cases, you need to be comfortable with ambiguity. You will alos need to take the role of witness and resource, rather than authority in the class.
What questions should I use?
Cases are directed by the questions asked. The questions here can be appended to any case, or could be a handout for participants unfamiliar with case studies on how to approach one.
- What is the situation?
- What do you know from reading the case?
- What don’t you know?
- What issues are at stake?
- What questions do you have?
- What information do you still need?
- Where or how could you find it?
- What are the problems you need to solve?
- What are all the possible options?
- What are the pros and cons of each option?
- What would happen if…?
- What are the underlying assumptions for [person X] in the case?
- Where do you see them?
- What criteria should you use when choosing an option?
- What does that mean about your assumptions?
How do I handle diverse opinions or disagreement?
- Delay the problem-solving part until the rest of the discussion has had time to develop.
- Shift points of view.
- Now that we’ve seen it from Nat’s standpoint, what’s happening here from Ateekah’s standpoint? What evidence would support Ateekah’s position? Is there a middle ground between the two positions?”
- Shift levels of abstraction.
- This helps when answers are vague. For example "It's just a bad situation," it too vague an analysis. Looking at a quote from the case can help. ‘When this person says X, what are their assumptions?’ ‘Why do they hold this point of view?’
- Ask for benefits and disadvantages of a position, outcome or solution for all sides.
- Shift time frame to focus on what’s next and consider hypotheticals.
- How could this situation have been handled differently?
- What could have been done earlier to head off this conflict and turn it into a productive solution?
- Is it too late to fix this?
- What are possible leverage points for a more productive solution?
- What good might come from the existing situation?
- If you changed X variable, how would this have changed the outcome? Why? How would that advance us in the understanding of Z?
- What other variables could be changed, and what would be the result?
- If we did nothing, what would happen next?’
- Shift to another context.
- We see how a person who thinks X would see the situation. How would a person who thinks Y see it?
- We see what happened in the Johannesburg news, how could this be handled in your city or province?
- How might [insert person or organization] address this problem?
- Use follow-up questions.
- What do you mean by___?
- Could you clarify what you said about___? (even if it was a pretty clear statement…allows time for thinking, developing different views, exploration in more depth)
- How would you square that observation with what [name of person] pointed out?
- Highlight differences during the discussion.
- That’s an interesting difference from what Javier just said, Sam. Let’s look at where the differences lie…’ (let the sides clarify their points before moving on).
Problem based learning
Problem Based Learning (PBL) as an instructional approach is highly student-driven and directed. The goal is for students to construct their own path to meeting a learning goal. You can help students identify this goals but should not narrowly dictate it.
Some of the best examples of PBL are found in health fields. In these disciplines students are often asked to propose a diagnosis or treatment based on observations and research. Case studies are a natural fit for health fields because the work that students will do when they graduate mirrors this format. However, any discipline can use case studies to help students develop their critical thinking.
If you are thinking of using cases or problems in your course and want a sounding board or any support, please contact us. Our curriculum specialists would be very happy to talk through your plan with you, answer questions or provide feedback. You can request a consultation or email us a question at learnsupport@viu.ca.