Cases are said to be unique pedagogical tools that require active learning and skilful facilitation. The former is borne out succinctly in the definition of a case as “any set of materials that can be employed to make students learn by doing”¹ (emphasis added). Hence, the following material may qualify as cases: news stories/personal stories, reports, appraisals, studies, case write-ups, case histories, videos/films and simulation activities, etc. A case, however, goes beyond a mere narrative of key facts or controversial events to complex issues and alternative courses of action that decision makers are forced to grapple with.² It is these features that distinguish cases from other teaching material.

Why use cases?

What prompted me to use case teaching is its long association with the training of lawyers and business executives. I have since found that it works equally well in the exposure of business students to the legal environment of business.

Before you embark on case teaching, it is useful to reflect on whether it is appropriate in your module and if so, what it is you are trying to do and why. In my subject, I use cases to achieve the following learning objectives:

• Reflect real-life situations³ which expose and prepare students to face the real world
  
• Develop problem-solving skills⁴
  
• Become independent learners⁵ as well as team players⁶
  
• Be actively engaged in class participation and interaction between students and facilitator and between students inter se
  
• Share values, perspectives, executive experience (where appropriate)
  
• Enhance critical thinking skills⁷
  
• Develop communication and presentation skills

How do you pick a case?

Cases are discipline specific. I use the following criteria to select what I think is a good case:

• Achieves most of the learning objectives
  
• Provides good instruction/learning points
  
• Is novel/breaks new ground
  
• Is open-ended, allowing various interpretations and solutions

The facilitator’s role in class

In the first class, I would explain the facilitator’s role, introduce the case method and state the expectations required. A correct understanding of the respective roles of facilitator and students is fundamental to the success of case teaching. I would emphasise that a facilitator is there to:

• Manage, yet not assume centre stage
  
• Guide/facilitate⁸
  
• Clarify or focus (where needed)
  
• Wrap up the proceedings
  
• Ensure that the learning objectives are being met

An emphasis on the cooperative roles between facilitator and students as partners in learning is necessary to pre-empt any student misconception of insufficient guidance or input or, if the discussion develops in many different ways, of a lack of crowd-control on the part of the facilitator!

The students’ role

To enable optimum contribution, I usually break up a tutorial or seminar group into smaller sub-groups of three or four members each. The role of each small group is to study the facts of a prescribed case; identify the problems; offer solutions; study the decision made by the decision maker (if provided); evaluate the solutions and discuss the likely impact of that case on commercial (or other) conduct. At the end of the day, each group makes a class presentation or role-plays the case. This provides ample opportunity for audience participation in the form of comment, critique, queries or challenges.

Evaluating participation

Situations might arise where it becomes obvious that there has been unequal contribution to the so-called ‘team effort’. A possible solution is to avoid giving the same mark to every group member irrespective of the effort contributed, but to introduce self-evaluation as well as peer evaluation: “How much effort do you think you have put in?” “How much effort do others think you have put in?” Another measure is to prevent any group member from making class presentations on more than one occasion.

Some obstacles to adopting case teaching

These are likely obstacles in the local context:

• Course not suitable
  
• Lack of case materials
  
• Case writing/editing is time-consuming
  
• Cases do not give an overview of the subject—they cannot do everything
  
• More preparation on the part of students
  
• Big class size/lack of time
  
• More content and discussion to monitor
  
• Case unstructured/low student tolerance for ambiguity
  
• Resistance to independent learning and active class participation

I have had to work out or around some of these problems before I could confidently adopt the case teaching method.

Conclusion: Two cases in point

Park and Ngo were executives from non-English speaking backgrounds. They enrolled in the MBA programme filled with expectation until they encountered my module requiring extensive case reading. Far from being daunted, they ploughed through the legalese. After his first presentation, Ngo dropped the module. Park soldiered on to complete the module. But he could not complete the programme: his company recalled him following the financial crises that hit the Asian Tigers. Before leaving, Park emailed me, saying (apart from the course benefits) how much he had improved his English by having to read all those cases. Furthermore, the opportunity to deliver oral presentations and to field questions (from contentious classmates) really gave him the confidence to speak English. With regards to Ngo, he reappeared a semester later. I observed: “I think we have met.” He replied: “I took a semester off from your module to master enough English to tackle the cases.” At the end of the day, Ngo achieved an excellent grade.

Cases teach learners to learn by doing. What they learn by doing may surpass what anyone can teach.

Notes

1. Professor Stephen D. Wrage. ‘Best Case Analysis: What Makes a Good Case and Where to Find the One You Need’. International Studies Notes 19, No. 2, Spring 1994, p. 21.
   
2. Professor Louis L. Ortmayer. ‘Decisions and Dilemmas: Writing Case Studies in International Affairs’. International Studies Notes 19, No. 2, Spring 1994, p. 29.
   
3. Cases illustrate the practical application of principles.
   
4. This calls for decision-making—the recognition of the issues and the discussion of possible solutions, not necessarily the ‘right answer’.
   
5. Consistent with the paradigm shift from teacher-centred to student-centred learning.
   
6. This develops group dynamic skills.
   
7. Application, synthesis, analysis, reasoning, evaluation and argument; not rote-learning.
   
8. For example: by offering ‘jumping off’ points or posing challenging, open-ended questions.