Jannet Symmons - Excellent Blog on Helping Students Read Case Studies

Case studies are an excellent learning tool for many students and teaching tool for facilitators.  Instructors can highlight topics covered in previous classes, provide depth to the material, and help students understand how the course is applicable in the working world.

Preparing students for case study work is highly recommended as it will bring out the best of them and appeal to students with learning styles who require time to digest and mull over the many points of a case study.

Case studies, though, can seem daunting to many students.  Some learners find 10 to 20 pages of dense material too much to tackle.  Good instructors will offer students a few necessary tips before sending them home to read and think.

As I hand out a case study to the class I talk about the general premise and perhaps the setting.  As students review the paper, they will quickly flip through the paper, most likely to find out how many pages they have to read.  Encourage them to skim through the article so they can become familiar with the headings. Before reading the entire paper. 

Many students stop and read block quotes and look at tables and other graphics.  By the time I’ve finished handing out the papers, many of the students already have a good idea whether or not they will like the case study.

It’s the instructor’s job to make as many students feel at ease as possible.  I encourage students to write notes in the margins so they can quickly find key pieces of information.  To help them find key information I also hand out a list of questions.  The questions are simple, but help the students read with purpose.

Some questions I’ve asked them answer include:

1. How many sides to the story are there and briefly, in a couple of sentences, describe the sides
2. Are they any moral or ethical questions the case is directly or indirectly asking.  If so, name them
3. Specify what went right (warning, that is sometimes hard to do)
4. Specify what went wrong
5. What was the key turning point in the case
6. How would you change the outcome
7. Identity all the key elements of the story

Students who have taken English lit courses will already be looking for those answers. 

I may, depending on the course and the students’ previous case study experience, strongly suggest that they form small study groups to review the case prior to the next class.

The students will be putting in a large amount of time into reading and analyzing material, so this isn’t the time for surprises.  Tell them what to expect in the next class and how important the case study will be and what will get out of.  Of course this helps you have case study that is relevant or interesting to the students.

I always expect the students to be able to answer the questions I’ve given them, which is often my jumping off point to a class discussion.  In addition, I have a set of questions that I’m ready to ask to help get the discussion going or help pick it up if the students lose focus.

Preparing students in advance is a must for case studies.  They will have a better learning experience and you can help them see the relevance of looking at and learning from other people’s mistakes.

Written by Jannet Symmons