Teaching with Cases Quotes

“We love case teaching because it allows us to deal with one of the most common shortcomings of student learning—and our most common comments on student papers—that the students “mention theory but don’t apply it.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“Giving up control like this is not something you should do every time and requires self-confidence. Many teachers are afraid of losing authority by letting on that they are not the biggest experts in the room. We have found that in situations where it is obvious that you are not the sole source of knowledge (or even the most important one), you maintain your authority better if you don’t try to hide that fact and instead facilitate knowledge exchange.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“Silence is a powerful tool, not to be underestimated. We have seen many presenters pose a question to an audience and when nobody answers, start to rephrase the question or answer it themselves. Don’t do it. Instead, wait and keep quiet. You may find it hard to stand there while the seconds tick away and nothing happens, but it is much worse for the audience, whose panic will increase until somebody blurts out something in pure desperation.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“The most important content of case teaching is the student contributions—their suggestions, comments, and questions. Experienced case teachers refer to student contributions, particularly the unexpectedly good ones or those that produce teaching moments, as “gifts” the students offer to the teacher and the class. There is a lot of merit in thinking about student contributions this way. Gift giving is associated with a certain risk. Will the recipient accept the gift, understand why it is given, appreciate its originality, and not suspect a hidden agenda or that the gift really is repurposed from something left over? Being a good case teacher (and participation evaluator) is like being a good gift recipient: you see the students’ gifts in the best possible light (don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right?) and try to make sense of even the more awkward presents, all to encourage more gift giving.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“Fun With all the pedagogical goals involved in a course, it’s easy to forget that the class can still be fun. On the first day of class, Bill states, as an explicit goal, that he wants everyone to look forward to coming to class each week. Well-facilitated case discussions are engaging and often punctuated by humor. Even if your personal style is on the somber side, you can still encourage participants to enjoy coming to class and emphasize that you personally look forward to class, too. If you tend to be unexpressive when you speak, then say in words how excited you are to be in this class with this group.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“Opportunities to Build Valuable Skills Case discussions present students with the opportunity to improve their ability to speak publicly, think on their feet, and improve their problem-solving and pattern-matching skills. While being forced to use these skills will provoke anxiety for many students, they will also have an opportunity to get past that anxiety and build skills that will help them succeed in both their academic and work careers. It is easy to draw direct parallels for students between the skills employed in a case discussion and those needed in a job interview or in their careers. After all, isn’t it better to fail and learn in the simulated environment of a classroom, than make your first fumbling mistakes with real money and your job on the line?”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“Relevance Students are often hesitant to invest time and energy in a course when they think there will be no valuable payoff to them. We are deeply committed to the value of learning for its own sake, but emphasizing the real-world relevance of case studies need not denigrate the learning experience. You will not discourage students motivated by the joy of learning by emphasizing that the case discussions will teach them about the practical implications of what they are learning. But for those many students motivated by the trade aspects of what we teach, we emphasize how grounded case discussions are in the reality of practice.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“To convince students, focus on five things. Enthusiasm and Engagement To capture and hold students’ attention, faculty must demonstrate enthusiasm for the material. While we both have extremely high energy in the classroom and use that energy to raise the level of intensity in the classroom, it can be equally effective to show enthusiasm in more subdued ways. Enthusiasm is contagious however it is presented, as long as it is genuine.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“Relevance Students are often hesitant to invest time and energy in a course when they think there will be no valuable payoff to”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“Central to case teaching is a problem of some sort, presented in a way that students can discuss, which normally means that there are several alternative legitimate solutions with good arguments for each. As any decision maker has to do in real life, the point of the discussion is to understand the problem, identify solutions, and choose among them.”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“The main benefit of case teaching to the instructor is that you have a more interesting time doing the classes, rather than feeling that you are repeatedly performing the same lectures, which could just as well be videotaped. In”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

“To develop judgment, you need to not only read theory but also apply it, and discussion-based or case-based teaching is a way to simulate business situations and have students ask themselves, “What would I do if I were in this specific situation?”
― Bill Schiano Espen Anderson, Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide