Why Use Cases?
Cases attempt to reflect the various pressures and considerations that professionals of all varieties confront in the workplace. Using complex, realistic open-ended problems as a focus, cases are designed to challenge you and help you develop and practice skills that you may need in your future careers. Cases are also an excellent way to see how abstract principles learned in class are applied to real world situations.
Remember that case assignments involve a different kind of learning than other assignments. There is no one single answer and sometimes even the issue is deliberately not stated clearly.
Why Instructors Use Case Assignments
- Real-life Scenarios - Cases to allow you to apply classroom principles to real situations.
- Solve Ambiguous Problems - Few problems in the real world are as clean cut as those in a textbook. Cases can help you develop skills to analyze the more complex problems you may encounter later.
- Sort and Analyze Ambiguous Data - Case studies can help you learn strategies for sorting out seemingly unconnected bits of data and organizing them to understand the problem.
- Communication Skills - Both group discussion and writing an analysis of the issues can improve your writing and speaking skills.
- Learn Different Perspectives - Group discussion can help you understand how others might view an issue and what valid points they "bring to the table."
- Identify Your Own Assumptions - Learning what your core assumptions in life are can help you understand what emotional reactions you may have to certain issues and help you consider whether they are valid or not
What a case replicates
The idea of the case method is that you learn concepts better if you use a theory instead of just hearing about it.
The case method is based on the principle that learning occurs most when people teach themselves through working on their own problems. You will gain a greater understanding and improve judgment skills when you work through an issue instead of just listening passively to a lecture.
In order to mimic real life, many cases center around an ill-structured collection of ambiguous (occasionally contradictory) facts, opinions, incidents and documents which you must organize into a coherent whole in order to analyze the problem and provide a viable solution.
Like real-world experts, you may not have all the facts you would like and will have to exercise your best judgment which can be improved by discussion and consultation with others. Experiencing this process can be frustrating and confusing, but it is also practical and realistic.
Like any expert, you will approach cases under the pressure of time, on the basis of limited facts and when facing the unknown. You may also be working on a case with other people whose opinions may differ from your own.
It can be a messy and confusing process, but you may learn more about your course material, than you would ever guess.