STLHE 2016 SAPES

Interest in using cases as real world examples in undergraduate and graduate teaching has been increasing among instructors at our institution, particularly among disciplines that don’t traditionally use case based learning (e.g. Biology, Engineering, etc.).

However, instructor definitions of what a “case” is vary, as do methods used when teaching with cases (i.e. not the business school model of the “case method” which involves individual consideration of a case, then discussion of the case in small groups, followed by a facilitated discussion with the full group to explore issues and recommendations (Erskine et al., 2011)). A project to build capacity and share expertise within and between disciplines for writing and teaching with cases has garnered interest and involvement from over 30 departments across campus.

In this session, we will use an adapted “case method”, using the “case” of our experience implementing CBL in diverse disciplines and class sizes to leverage the knowledge and experience of participants. This will demonstrate the “case method” and how it can be adapted, empower participants to share their own successes and challenges with CBL, and share what we have learned in our project.

Learning objectives include being able to explain what a “case” is and what the “case method” is, describe factors to be considered when implementing this method, and judge whether CBL may be adapted for their context. We will debrief the process and method to make explicit what we did and why. If time permits, we will explore some issues more deeply.

References:

Erskine, J., Leenders, M., & Mauffette-Leenders, L. (2011). Teaching with Cases, 3rd Edition. London, ON: Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University.