This book is for teachers at all levels and in all subject areas, who are interested in exploring this pedagogy. In the introductory chapters, the theoretical bases of case method teaching are examined. The rest of the book offers specific and practical help with the various aspects of case method instruction, selecting appropriate cases, organizing for instruction, orienting students, and mastering the art of leading a case discussion. More than offering information and advice about effective classroom practices in case method teaching, Selma Wassermann provides potential and practicing case method teachers assistance in their development as effective practitioners. This book can be used as a companion text to Wassermann's Getting Down to Cases.
This third edition of Teaching and the Case Method is a further response to increased national and international interest in teaching, teachers, and learning, as well as the pressing need to enhance instructional effectiveness in the widest possible variety of settings. Like its predecessors, this edition celebrates the joys of teaching and learning at their best and emphasizes the reciprocal exchange of wisdom that teachers and students can experience. It is based on the belief that teaching is not purely a matter of inborn talent. On the contrary, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that make for excellence in teaching can be analyzed, abstracted, and learned. One key premise of Teaching and the Case Method is that all teaching and learning involve a core of universally applicable principles that can be discerned and absorbed through the study and discussion of cases.
Case method teaching immerses students in realistic business situations--which include incomplete information, time constraints, and conflicting goals. The class discussion inherent in case teaching is well known for stimulating the development of students' critical thinking skills, yet instructors often need guidance on managing that class discussion to maximize learning. Teaching with Cases focuses on practical advice for instructors that can be easily implemented. It covers how to plan a course, how to teach it, and how to evaluate it. The book is organized by the three elements required for a great case-based course: 1) advance planning by the instructor, including implementation of a student contract; 2) how to make leading a vibrant case discussion easier and more systematic; and 3) planning for student evaluation after the course is complete. Teaching with Cases is ideal for anyone interested in case teaching, whether basing an entire course on cases, using cases as a supplement, or simply using discussion facilitation techniques. To learn more about the book, and to see resources available, visit teachingwithcases.hbsp.harvard.edu.
Teachers and teacher educators have long been aware of the gap between the principles of education taught in university preservice programs and the realities of classroom life. The current burgeoning interest in educational case methods is testimony to the promise of case-based teaching as a way of bridging that gap, and of easing the novice teacher's entry into the classroom. A case holds attributes of both theory and practice, enabling teachers and students alike to examine real-life situations under a laboratory microscope.
This book is intended to support faculty in designing and conducting case teaching. The book is a practical 'how to' guide for faculty setting up and delivering a case based class. It can be used by instructors of all levels as it discusses issues such as class culture, teaching pace, grading, board usage etc.
Kipp Herreid learned other ways to teach- much better ways. His favorite approach puts science in vivid context through case studies, which he calls "stories with an educational message." This compilation of 40-plus essays examines every aspect of the case study method.--[back cover].
There are a number of marvelous books that address the topic of the case method. If you are interested in facilitating cases, you can look to the classic book Teaching and the Case Method by Louis Barnes, C. Roland Christensen and Abby Hansen (1994). The collection of essays on the subject, Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership by C. Roland Christensen, David Garvin and Ann Sweet (1991) is a wonderful and inspiring read as well. If your interest is case-based research, it would be nearly impossible to find a more authoritative source than Robert Yin’s (2009, 4th Edition) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, which (at last count) has been cited nearly 29,000 times, according to Google Scholar. There is even a new entry to the field, William Ellet’s (2007) The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively about Cases that is specifically aimed at the student. At first glance, then, the topic of case studies in education and research seems to be pretty well covered. Do we really need another book on the subject? I write this book believing the answer is yes. While I have great affection for the classics, there are a number of issues facing most business faculty—not to mention faculty members from disciplines outside of business—that these books simply do not address. In writing this book, my intention is to offer some thoughts on some of these. Paradoxically, these omissions arise from the very fact that the authors of the classics are undisputed masters of their craft. Why this is a problem should become clear as I identify the three areas of focus for this book. The first issue that I feel must be considered is using the case method with a novice audience. Consider the following. When I was enrolled in the MBA program at Harvard Business School (HBS) in the early 1980s, the curriculum consisted of nearly 900 case discussion (15 per week) and—perhaps—as many as 20 class periods given over to lecture-style presentations. When I teach a case-method graduate course at my own institution, on the other hand, I am constrained to 11 case discussions (a 12 week semester). As it happens, I am also the only course in the entire program that employs pedagogy reasonably faithful to the case method, as it is normally defined. The math is very simple. By the last day of my semester, my students have as much experience discussing cases as I did on Thursday afternoon of the first week of my two year MBA program at HBS. With the exception of faculty teaching at those rare institutions that have chosen to widely adopt the case method, the situation I face is commonplace. The second concern that existing books raise for me is their tendency to focus on isolated topics. Specifically, case facilitation, case writing and case research are treated as separable activities. I would argue that these three aspects of the case method—which I define quite broadly—are inseparable. For institutions that wish to achieve the full set of benefits provided by the case method, all three activities must be pursued in parallel. Perhaps this is why so few institutions have achieved success through the case method. In this book, I will argue that achieving such integration is precisely why those rare institutions have been so successful. Once you start believing that the case method can be a key to institutional success, how you get there becomes a real challenge. At leading institutions featuring the case method, such as HBS, the philosophy is largely learned through a period of apprenticeship. For example, I did not encounter any of the references mentioned in the first paragraph—excepting Yin—at any time during my 5 year doctorate at HBS. Instead, I went out and wrote cases, facilitated discussions and did research under the guidance of faculty members who were masters of the craft. How can someone without the benefit of such an experience acquire such mastery? While I cannot offer any promises in this regard, I will at least provide some examples and easy-to-follow checklists that may be of service to individuals getting started.
