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Case Method Teaching and Learning

What is the case method? How can the case method be used to engage learners? What are some strategies for getting started? This guide helps instructors answer these questions by providing an overview of the case method while highlighting learner-centered and digitally-enhanced approaches to teaching with the case method. The guide also offers tips to instructors as they get started with the case method and additional references and resources.

On this page:

What is case method teaching.

• Case Method at Columbia

Why use the Case Method?

Case method teaching approaches, how do i get started.

• Additional Resources

The CTL is here to help!

For support with implementing a case method approach in your course, email [email protected] to schedule your 1-1 consultation .

Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2019). Case Method Teaching and Learning. Columbia University. Retrieved from [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/case-method/  

Case method 1 teaching is an active form of instruction that focuses on a case and involves students learning by doing 2 3 . Cases are real or invented stories 4  that include “an educational message” or recount events, problems, dilemmas, theoretical or conceptual issue that requires analysis and/or decision-making.

Case-based teaching simulates real world situations and asks students to actively grapple with complex problems 5 6 This method of instruction is used across disciplines to promote learning, and is common in law, business, medicine, among other fields. See Table 1 below for a few types of cases and the learning they promote.

Table 1: Types of cases and the learning they promote.

For a more complete list, see Case Types & Teaching Methods: A Classification Scheme from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science.

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Case Method Teaching and Learning at Columbia

The case method is actively used in classrooms across Columbia, at the Morningside campus in the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, among others, and at Columbia University Irving Medical campus.

Faculty Spotlight:

Professor Mary Ann Price on Using Case Study Method to Place Pre-Med Students in Real-Life Scenarios

Read more  

Professor De Pinho on Using the Case Method in the Mailman Core

Case method teaching has been found to improve student learning, to increase students’ perception of learning gains, and to meet learning objectives 8 9 . Faculty have noted the instructional benefits of cases including greater student engagement in their learning 10 , deeper student understanding of concepts, stronger critical thinking skills, and an ability to make connections across content areas and view an issue from multiple perspectives 11 . 

Through case-based learning, students are the ones asking questions about the case, doing the problem-solving, interacting with and learning from their peers, “unpacking” the case, analyzing the case, and summarizing the case. They learn how to work with limited information and ambiguity, think in professional or disciplinary ways, and ask themselves “what would I do if I were in this specific situation?”

The case method bridges theory to practice, and promotes the development of skills including: communication, active listening, critical thinking, decision-making, and metacognitive skills 12 , as students apply course content knowledge, reflect on what they know and their approach to analyzing, and make sense of a case. 

Though the case method has historical roots as an instructor-centered approach that uses the Socratic dialogue and cold-calling, it is possible to take a more learner-centered approach in which students take on roles and tasks traditionally left to the instructor. 

Cases are often used as “vehicles for classroom discussion” 13 . Students should be encouraged to take ownership of their learning from a case. Discussion-based approaches engage students in thinking and communicating about a case. Instructors can set up a case activity in which students are the ones doing the work of “asking questions, summarizing content, generating hypotheses, proposing theories, or offering critical analyses” 14 . 

The role of the instructor is to share a case or ask students to share or create a case to use in class, set expectations, provide instructions, and assign students roles in the discussion. Student roles in a case discussion can include: 

• discussion “starters” get the conversation started with a question or posing the questions that their peers came up with; 
• facilitators listen actively, validate the contributions of peers, ask follow-up questions, draw connections, refocus the conversation as needed; 
• recorders take-notes of the main points of the discussion, record on the board, upload to CourseWorks, or type and project on the screen; and 
• discussion “wrappers” lead a summary of the main points of the discussion. 

Prior to the case discussion, instructors can model case analysis and the types of questions students should ask, co-create discussion guidelines with students, and ask for students to submit discussion questions. During the discussion, the instructor can keep time, intervene as necessary (however the students should be doing the talking), and pause the discussion for a debrief and to ask students to reflect on what and how they learned from the case activity. 

Note: case discussions can be enhanced using technology. Live discussions can occur via video-conferencing (e.g., using Zoom ) or asynchronous discussions can occur using the Discussions tool in CourseWorks (Canvas) .

Table 2 includes a few interactive case method approaches. Regardless of the approach selected, it is important to create a learning environment in which students feel comfortable participating in a case activity and learning from one another. See below for tips on supporting student in how to learn from a case in the “getting started” section and how to create a supportive learning environment in the Guide for Inclusive Teaching at Columbia . 

Table 2. Strategies for Engaging Students in Case-Based Learning

Approaches to case teaching should be informed by course learning objectives, and can be adapted for small, large, hybrid, and online classes. Instructional technology can be used in various ways to deliver, facilitate, and assess the case method. For instance, an online module can be created in CourseWorks (Canvas) to structure the delivery of the case, allow students to work at their own pace, engage all learners, even those reluctant to speak up in class, and assess understanding of a case and student learning. Modules can include text, embedded media (e.g., using Panopto or Mediathread ) curated by the instructor, online discussion, and assessments. Students can be asked to read a case and/or watch a short video, respond to quiz questions and receive immediate feedback, post questions to a discussion, and share resources. 

For more information about options for incorporating educational technology to your course, please contact your Learning Designer .

To ensure that students are learning from the case approach, ask them to pause and reflect on what and how they learned from the case. Time to reflect  builds your students’ metacognition, and when these reflections are collected they provides you with insights about the effectiveness of your approach in promoting student learning.

Well designed case-based learning experiences: 1) motivate student involvement, 2) have students doing the work, 3) help students develop knowledge and skills, and 4) have students learning from each other.  

Designing a case-based learning experience should center around the learning objectives for a course. The following points focus on intentional design. 

Identify learning objectives, determine scope, and anticipate challenges. 

• Why use the case method in your course? How will it promote student learning differently than other approaches? 
• What are the learning objectives that need to be met by the case method? What knowledge should students apply and skills should they practice? 
• What is the scope of the case? (a brief activity in a single class session to a semester-long case-based course; if new to case method, start small with a single case). 
• What challenges do you anticipate (e.g., student preparation and prior experiences with case learning, discomfort with discussion, peer-to-peer learning, managing discussion) and how will you plan for these in your design? 
• If you are asking students to use transferable skills for the case method (e.g., teamwork, digital literacy) make them explicit. 

Determine how you will know if the learning objectives were met and develop a plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the case method to inform future case teaching. 

• What assessments and criteria will you use to evaluate student work or participation in case discussion? 
• How will you evaluate the effectiveness of the case method? What feedback will you collect from students? 
• How might you leverage technology for assessment purposes? For example, could you quiz students about the case online before class, accept assignment submissions online, use audience response systems (e.g., PollEverywhere) for formative assessment during class? 

Select an existing case, create your own, or encourage students to bring course-relevant cases, and prepare for its delivery

• Where will the case method fit into the course learning sequence? 
• Is the case at the appropriate level of complexity? Is it inclusive, culturally relevant, and relatable to students? 
• What materials and preparation will be needed to present the case to students? (e.g., readings, audiovisual materials, set up a module in CourseWorks). 

Plan for the case discussion and an active role for students

• What will your role be in facilitating case-based learning? How will you model case analysis for your students? (e.g., present a short case and demo your approach and the process of case learning) (Davis, 2009). 
• What discussion guidelines will you use that include your students’ input? 
• How will you encourage students to ask and answer questions, summarize their work, take notes, and debrief the case? 
• If students will be working in groups, how will groups form? What size will the groups be? What instructions will they be given? How will you ensure that everyone participates? What will they need to submit? Can technology be leveraged for any of these areas? 
• Have you considered students of varied cognitive and physical abilities and how they might participate in the activities/discussions, including those that involve technology? 

Student preparation and expectations

• How will you communicate about the case method approach to your students? When will you articulate the purpose of case-based learning and expectations of student engagement? What information about case-based learning and expectations will be included in the syllabus?
• What preparation and/or assignment(s) will students complete in order to learn from the case? (e.g., read the case prior to class, watch a case video prior to class, post to a CourseWorks discussion, submit a brief memo, complete a short writing assignment to check students’ understanding of a case, take on a specific role, prepare to present a critique during in-class discussion).

Andersen, E. and Schiano, B. (2014). Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide . Harvard Business Press. 

Bonney, K. M. (2015). Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains†. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education , 16 (1), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.846

Davis, B.G. (2009). Chapter 24: Case Studies. In Tools for Teaching. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. 

Garvin, D.A. (2003). Making the Case: Professional Education for the world of practice. Harvard Magazine. September-October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1, 56-107.

Golich, V.L. (2000). The ABCs of Case Teaching. International Studies Perspectives. 1, 11-29. 

Golich, V.L.; Boyer, M; Franko, P.; and Lamy, S. (2000). The ABCs of Case Teaching. Pew Case Studies in International Affairs. Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. 

Heath, J. (2015). Teaching & Writing Cases: A Practical Guide. The Case Center, UK. 

Herreid, C.F. (2011). Case Study Teaching. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. No. 128, Winder 2011, 31 – 40. 

Herreid, C.F. (2007). Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science . National Science Teachers Association. Available as an ebook through Columbia Libraries. 

Herreid, C.F. (2006). “Clicker” Cases: Introducing Case Study Teaching Into Large Classrooms. Journal of College Science Teaching. Oct 2006, 36(2). https://search.proquest.com/docview/200323718?pq-origsite=gscholar  

Krain, M. (2016). Putting the Learning in Case Learning? The Effects of Case-Based Approaches on Student Knowledge, Attitudes, and Engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. 27(2), 131-153. 

Lundberg, K.O. (Ed.). (2011). Our Digital Future: Boardrooms and Newsrooms. Knight Case Studies Initiative. 

Popil, I. (2011). Promotion of critical thinking by using case studies as teaching method. Nurse Education Today, 31(2), 204–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.002

Schiano, B. and Andersen, E. (2017). Teaching with Cases Online . Harvard Business Publishing. 

Thistlethwaite, JE; Davies, D.; Ekeocha, S.; Kidd, J.M.; MacDougall, C.; Matthews, P.; Purkis, J.; Clay D. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education: A BEME systematic review . Medical Teacher. 2012; 34(6): e421-44. 

Yadav, A.; Lundeberg, M.; DeSchryver, M.; Dirkin, K.; Schiller, N.A.; Maier, K. and Herreid, C.F. (2007). Teaching Science with Case Studies: A National Survey of Faculty Perceptions of the Benefits and Challenges of Using Cases. Journal of College Science Teaching; Sept/Oct 2007; 37(1). 

Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass.

Additional resources 

Teaching with Cases , Harvard Kennedy School of Government. 

Features “what is a teaching case?” video that defines a teaching case, and provides documents to help students prepare for case learning, Common case teaching challenges and solutions, tips for teaching with cases. 

Promoting excellence and innovation in case method teaching: Teaching by the Case Method , Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning. Harvard Business School. 

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science . University of Buffalo. 

A collection of peer-reviewed STEM cases to teach scientific concepts and content, promote process skills and critical thinking. The Center welcomes case submissions. Case classification scheme of case types and teaching methods:

• Different types of cases: analysis case, dilemma/decision case, directed case, interrupted case, clicker case, a flipped case, a laboratory case. 
• Different types of teaching methods: problem-based learning, discussion, debate, intimate debate, public hearing, trial, jigsaw, role-play. 

Columbia Resources

Resources available to support your use of case method: The University hosts a number of case collections including: the Case Consortium (a collection of free cases in the fields of journalism, public policy, public health, and other disciplines that include teaching and learning resources; SIPA’s Picker Case Collection (audiovisual case studies on public sector innovation, filmed around the world and involving SIPA student teams in producing the cases); and Columbia Business School CaseWorks , which develops teaching cases and materials for use in Columbia Business School classrooms.

Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers a variety of programs and services for instructors at Columbia. The CTL can provide customized support as you plan to use the case method approach through implementation. Schedule a one-on-one consultation. 

Office of the Provost

The Hybrid Learning Course Redesign grant program from the Office of the Provost provides support for faculty who are developing innovative and technology-enhanced pedagogy and learning strategies in the classroom. In addition to funding, faculty awardees receive support from CTL staff as they redesign, deliver, and evaluate their hybrid courses.

The Start Small! Mini-Grant provides support to faculty who are interested in experimenting with one new pedagogical strategy or tool. Faculty awardees receive funds and CTL support for a one-semester period.

Explore our teaching resources.

• Blended Learning
• Contemplative Pedagogy
• Inclusive Teaching Guide
• FAQ for Teaching Assistants
• Metacognition

CTL resources and technology for you.

• Overview of all CTL Resources and Technology
• The origins of this method can be traced to Harvard University where in 1870 the Law School began using cases to teach students how to think like lawyers using real court decisions. This was followed by the Business School in 1920 (Garvin, 2003). These professional schools recognized that lecture mode of instruction was insufficient to teach critical professional skills, and that active learning would better prepare learners for their professional lives. ↩
• Golich, V.L. (2000). The ABCs of Case Teaching. International Studies Perspectives. 1, 11-29. ↩
• Herreid, C.F. (2007). Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science . National Science Teachers Association. Available as an ebook through Columbia Libraries. ↩
• Davis, B.G. (2009). Chapter 24: Case Studies. In Tools for Teaching. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. ↩
• Andersen, E. and Schiano, B. (2014). Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide . Harvard Business Press. ↩
• Lundberg, K.O. (Ed.). (2011). Our Digital Future: Boardrooms and Newsrooms. Knight Case Studies Initiative. ↩
• Heath, J. (2015). Teaching & Writing Cases: A Practical Guide. The Case Center, UK. ↩
• Bonney, K. M. (2015). Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains†. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education , 16 (1), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.846 ↩
• Krain, M. (2016). Putting the Learning in Case Learning? The Effects of Case-Based Approaches on Student Knowledge, Attitudes, and Engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. 27(2), 131-153. ↩
• Thistlethwaite, JE; Davies, D.; Ekeocha, S.; Kidd, J.M.; MacDougall, C.; Matthews, P.; Purkis, J.; Clay D. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education: A BEME systematic review . Medical Teacher. 2012; 34(6): e421-44. ↩
• Yadav, A.; Lundeberg, M.; DeSchryver, M.; Dirkin, K.; Schiller, N.A.; Maier, K. and Herreid, C.F. (2007). Teaching Science with Case Studies: A National Survey of Faculty Perceptions of the Benefits and Challenges of Using Cases. Journal of College Science Teaching; Sept/Oct 2007; 37(1). ↩
• Popil, I. (2011). Promotion of critical thinking by using case studies as teaching method. Nurse Education Today, 31(2), 204–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.002 ↩
• Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. ↩
• Herreid, C.F. (2006). “Clicker” Cases: Introducing Case Study Teaching Into Large Classrooms. Journal of College Science Teaching. Oct 2006, 36(2). https://search.proquest.com/docview/200323718?pq-origsite=gscholar ↩

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• What is Case-Based Learning? Meaning, Examples, Applications

Case-based learning is a teaching method in which learners are presented with real or hypothetical cases that simulate real-life scenarios to solve them. It enables students to identify the root cause of a problem, and explore various solutions using their knowledge and skills from lessons and research to select the best solution.

Using the case-based learning approach allows students to fine-tune their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to develop authentic solutions and recommendations to real-life problems. This allows students to solve real-world problems rather than simply memorize answers.

This learning method is also very flexible, as it can be used in both physical and virtual classes. It also has many applications including reviewing legal arguments, business case studies, medical treatments, and more.

What is Case-Based Learning?

Case-based learning, also known as the case method, teaches and assesses students by simulating real-life scenarios. It helps students in acquiring relevant knowledge by posing hypothetical or even real-world problems for them to solve.

Case-based learning enables the understanding of complex problems through the use of previous solutions and optimized recommendations. It’s an effective learning method because it helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

It also helps students in developing their research and collaboration skills to solve new and complex problems. Case-based learning is commonly used in professional fields such as medicine, law, business, engineering, and journalism.

Case studies are typically done in groups or as a class, but educators may occasionally allow students to choose case studies individually.

Why Use Case-Based Learning?

The case-based learning method is a highly recommended teaching method because it allows students to apply classroom and research knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems. Here are the major benefits of using case-based learning:

Authenticity

Learning from real cases helps students understand how their knowledge can be applied to real problems, which makes their learning experience more meaningful.

Students are more likely to solve problems from their perspectives because they are learning from real-life scenarios, which allows them to apply their critical thinking and creativity skills.

Problem-Solving

Using case studies requires students to analyze the scenarios critically and come up with authentic solutions. The process of studying the cases and applying their knowledge and skills to solve the given problem requires students to leverage their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

When students practice problem-solving skills through case studies regularly they improve their ability to process information quickly and come up with efficient solutions to similar problems. This skill is especially useful in most professional fields because it allows you to deal with unforeseen circumstances and provide appropriate solutions on the spot.

Transferability

Case-based learning allows students to apply their knowledge and skills from lessons, assignments, and assessments to solve new and unfamiliar problems. This makes their knowledge and skills transferable; they can easily adapt to a new environment effectively.

Collaboration

Case studies often include group work, which allows students to practice teamwork and help them develop collaboration skills. Knowing how to collaborate effectively within and across teams is one of the most important soft skills professionals need to build and run organizations effectively.

It also allows students to learn important life skills they can adopt in real-life scenarios.

Flexibility

Case-based learning requires students to provide authentic solutions; the solution is frequently adaptable; it can be used to solve more than one case. It also allows for more flexible learning experiences, such as e-learning and hybrid learning.

What Is the Purpose of a Case Study in Education?

The primary goal of using case studies in learning is to provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems. They are often used in professions that require adaptable solutions, such as healthcare, law, business, and engineering.

Case-based learning can take place at all levels of education, from primary to tertiary. Starting this type of learning earlier allows students to quickly hone their problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity skills, which will become muscle memory when they become professionals.

Here are other goals educators achieve with case studies:

• Build students’ problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• Foster students’ Collaboration skills
• Equip students to solve real-life problems
• Help students develop transferable skills and knowledge to solve new problems.

Teaching Strategies for Case-Based Learning

Case-based learning is only effective when it is used correctly to help students develop problem-solving and analytical skills. Here are some tips for creating an effective case-based learning experience:

Introduce the Case

The first step in creating a successful case-based learning experience is to introduce the case study into the classroom. Be the first to provide information about the case to your students; this helps them understand the context of the case study and where to apply the knowledge and skills gained from it.

Incorporating case studies into relevant lessons is an excellent way to introduce them. For example, if you want to do a case study on the effect of brand voice, include how to create a great brand voice in a lesson plan.

Ask Guiding Questions

When presenting case studies to students, include guiding questions that capture the purpose of the case study. This will direct their critical thinking toward the knowledge and skills you want them to gain from the case study.

Guiding questions also help students avoid being overburdened with information they don’t need, which can lead to intellectual fatigue.

Encourage Teamwork

Group assignments help students develop collaboration skills, which will help them understand how to navigate team collaborations in their future fields. It also allows them to brainstorm multiple ideas at once and analyze them to see if they are feasible solutions.

Provide Feedback

When students present their solutions and recommendations, provide feedback on their approach to help them solve future problems more effectively. Giving students feedback allows them to continuously hone their problem-solving skills while following guiding instructions.

Foster Classroom Discussions

Group discussions and general classroom discussions provide students with different perspectives on how people solve problems. It also enables them to identify what they could do better to achieve a more optimized solution.

Classroom discussion also helps to engage students by allowing them to share their thoughts and provide feedback on what they have learned from the case study.

Encourage Reflection

Encourage students to think about what they learned from the case study and how they will apply what they learned to solve future problems.

What Are the Advantages of Case-Based Learning?

Active learning.

Case-based learning motivates students to apply their knowledge and skills to develop solutions and recommendations. It also encourages students to participate in group discussions which promote both inside and outside classroom collaboration.

As a result, rather than passively listening in class, students are actively learning and looking for ways to use the information to determine authentic solutions to the problem.

Relevant Knowledge

Another major benefit of case studies is that they help students in developing industry and real-world relevant skills and knowledge. The case studies about real-life problems provide students with perspectives on the problems they can expect in their fields in the future and how to deal with them.

Students can focus on acquiring the skills and knowledge that will help them understand real-world cases and how to solve them. 

Traditional learning methods, on the other hand,  provide students with a wealth of information and limited guidelines for problem-solving. Students may become confused and unable to achieve the lesson’s goal if they are overwhelmed by the volume of information.

Personalized Learning Experience

Case-based learning allows students to learn at their pace, gain relevant skills, and experiment with different problem-solving strategies. This allows students to investigate problem solutions from their point of view, making their learning experience more engaging.

It also allows students to delve deeply into topics that interest them during case studies to come up with unique solutions to the given problem. This strengthens students’ research skills, which will likely come in handy in their future careers.

Develop Students’ Communication Skills

Higher knowledge retention rates.

Most students passively learn with traditional learning, making it difficult for students to recall complex and unfamiliar concepts. Case-based learning, on the other hand, encourages students to actively participate in class, research, and collaborate with their peers, resulting in a more personalized and active learning experience.

The likelihood of students forgetting skills and information acquired through personalized learning is much lower than when they are simply passively listening in class.

What Are the Disadvantages of Case-Based Learning?

While case-based learning is an excellent teaching style that helps students develop the skills they need to be exceptional in their professional fields, it does have some drawbacks. The following are some of the disadvantages of using case-based learning:

Time and Resource Intensive

Of course, all teaching methods necessitate time and resources, but case-based learning necessitates even more from educators. Unlike traditional teaching methods, educators must spend more time preparing course materials, selecting relevant case studies, grouping students, holding discussions, and more.

Limited Scope

Case-based learning has the edge of focusing on relevant cases, which narrows students’ knowledge and skills. However, this has a disadvantage in that students only cover very specific aspects of a topic and end up knowing nothing about other equally important aspects.

Student Readiness

While the goal of case-based learning is to help students fine-tune their problem-solving and critical thinking skills without swamping them with information, it can backfire if the students aren’t ready for authentic cases and assessments.

So, before assigning real-life cases educators must ensure that their students are well-developed enough to understand concepts and their relevance in real-life.

Group Dynamics

Case-based learning encourages teamwork, which allows students to get answers faster and practice their interpersonal and collaborative skills. But if the group dynamic isn’t working because, for example, the managers are inactive and work is delegated to a small number of group members, the group tasks may end up slowing down the students.

Applications of Case-Based Learning

Business education.

 Business students often use case studies to analyze real-world problems and solutions.

Law Education

Case studies are often used in law to help students understand legal cases and how to prepare legal arguments.

Healthcare students use case studies to understand patient conditions and develop the best course of treatment.

Professional Development

Case-based learning is a highly effective method for teaching professionals new and relevant skills. They are already familiar with real-world problems; case-based learning allows them to carefully review these cases and find effective solutions that will help them excel in their field.

Examples of Case Based Learning in Education

1. medical treatment.

Medical students are studying the case of a patient with a rare medical condition. The supervisor gives the medical students a list of symptoms, history, and genetic predispositions that could cause the condition and asks them to diagnose the patient and recommend a treatment plan.

2. Environmental Engineering 

Students are given a case study of a fictional town that suffers from severe air pollution as a result of CO2 emissions from a nearby cement factory; the town also has a large kaolin deposit. The students are to create kaolin adsorbents to capture CO2.

3. Education

A college education professor gives students a case study of a school that has been struggling with low student achievement for three years. The students must determine what happened in the last three years to cause the low performance and how to develop a strategy to improve the student’s performance.

Case-based learning is a teaching and learning method that helps students develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills to solve real-world problems. It can be used in various fields, including business, law, healthcare, and education.

Although case-based earning is flexible and helpful to students in developing the skills they need to be professionals, it can be resource-intensive and time-consuming for educators.

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• active classroom
• case-based learning
• classroom management techniques
• critical thinking skills
• problem solving skills
• Moradeke Owa

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Case-based learning.

Case-based learning (CBL) is an established approach used across disciplines where students apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios, promoting higher levels of cognition (see Bloom’s Taxonomy ). In CBL classrooms, students typically work in groups on case studies, stories involving one or more characters and/or scenarios.  The cases present a disciplinary problem or problems for which students devise solutions under the guidance of the instructor. CBL has a strong history of successful implementation in medical, law, and business schools, and is increasingly used within undergraduate education, particularly within pre-professional majors and the sciences (Herreid, 1994). This method involves guided inquiry and is grounded in constructivism whereby students form new meanings by interacting with their knowledge and the environment (Lee, 2012).

There are a number of benefits to using CBL in the classroom. In a review of the literature, Williams (2005) describes how CBL: utilizes collaborative learning, facilitates the integration of learning, develops students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to learn, encourages learner self-reflection and critical reflection, allows for scientific inquiry, integrates knowledge and practice, and supports the development of a variety of learning skills.

CBL has several defining characteristics, including versatility, storytelling power, and efficient self-guided learning.  In a systematic analysis of 104 articles in health professions education, CBL was found to be utilized in courses with less than 50 to over 1000 students (Thistlethwaite et al., 2012). In these classrooms, group sizes ranged from 1 to 30, with most consisting of 2 to 15 students.  Instructors varied in the proportion of time they implemented CBL in the classroom, ranging from one case spanning two hours of classroom time, to year-long case-based courses. These findings demonstrate that instructors use CBL in a variety of ways in their classrooms.

The stories that comprise the framework of case studies are also a key component to CBL’s effectiveness. Jonassen and Hernandez-Serrano (2002, p.66) describe how storytelling:

Is a method of negotiating and renegotiating meanings that allows us to enter into other’s realms of meaning through messages they utter in their stories,

Helps us find our place in a culture,

Allows us to explicate and to interpret, and

Facilitates the attainment of vicarious experience by helping us to distinguish the positive models to emulate from the negative model.

Neurochemically, listening to stories can activate oxytocin, a hormone that increases one’s sensitivity to social cues, resulting in more empathy, generosity, compassion and trustworthiness (Zak, 2013; Kosfeld et al., 2005). The stories within case studies serve as a means by which learners form new understandings through characters and/or scenarios.

CBL is often described in conjunction or in comparison with problem-based learning (PBL). While the lines are often confusingly blurred within the literature, in the most conservative of definitions, the features distinguishing the two approaches include that PBL involves open rather than guided inquiry, is less structured, and the instructor plays a more passive role. In PBL multiple solutions to the problem may exit, but the problem is often initially not well-defined. PBL also has a stronger emphasis on developing self-directed learning. The choice between implementing CBL versus PBL is highly dependent on the goals and context of the instruction.  For example, in a comparison of PBL and CBL approaches during a curricular shift at two medical schools, students and faculty preferred CBL to PBL (Srinivasan et al., 2007). Students perceived CBL to be a more efficient process and more clinically applicable. However, in another context, PBL might be the favored approach.

In a review of the effectiveness of CBL in health profession education, Thistlethwaite et al. (2012), found several benefits:

Students enjoyed the method and thought it enhanced their learning,

Instructors liked how CBL engaged students in learning,

CBL seemed to facilitate small group learning, but the authors could not distinguish between whether it was the case itself or the small group learning that occurred as facilitated by the case.

Other studies have also reported on the effectiveness of CBL in achieving learning outcomes (Bonney, 2015; Breslin, 2008; Herreid, 2013; Krain, 2016). These findings suggest that CBL is a vehicle of engagement for instruction, and facilitates an environment whereby students can construct knowledge.

Science – Students are given a scenario to which they apply their basic science knowledge and problem-solving skills to help them solve the case. One example within the biological sciences is two brothers who have a family history of a genetic illness. They each have mutations within a particular sequence in their DNA. Students work through the case and draw conclusions about the biological impacts of these mutations using basic science. Sample cases: You are Not the Mother of Your Children ; Organic Chemisty and Your Cellphone: Organic Light-Emitting Diodes ;   A Light on Physics: F-Number and Exposure Time

Medicine – Medical or pre-health students read about a patient presenting with specific symptoms. Students decide which questions are important to ask the patient in their medical history, how long they have experienced such symptoms, etc. The case unfolds and students use clinical reasoning, propose relevant tests, develop a differential diagnoses and a plan of treatment. Sample cases: The Case of the Crying Baby: Surgical vs. Medical Management ; The Plan: Ethics and Physician Assisted Suicide ; The Haemophilus Vaccine: A Victory for Immunologic Engineering

Public Health – A case study describes a pandemic of a deadly infectious disease. Students work through the case to identify Patient Zero, the person who was the first to spread the disease, and how that individual became infected.  Sample cases: The Protective Parent ; The Elusive Tuberculosis Case: The CDC and Andrew Speaker ; Credible Voice: WHO-Beijing and the SARS Crisis

Law – A case study presents a legal dilemma for which students use problem solving to decide the best way to advise and defend a client. Students are presented information that changes during the case.  Sample cases: Mortgage Crisis Call (abstract) ; The Case of the Unpaid Interns (abstract) ; Police-Community Dialogue (abstract)

Business – Students work on a case study that presents the history of a business success or failure. They apply business principles learned in the classroom and assess why the venture was successful or not. Sample cases: SELCO-Determining a path forward ; Project Masiluleke: Texting and Testing to Fight HIV/AIDS in South Africa ; Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Healthcare

Humanities - Students consider a case that presents a theater facing financial and management difficulties. They apply business and theater principles learned in the classroom to the case, working together to create solutions for the theater. Sample cases: David Geffen School of Drama

Recommendations

Finding and Writing Cases

Consider utilizing or adapting open access cases - The availability of open resources and databases containing cases that instructors can download makes this approach even more accessible in the classroom. Two examples of open databases are the Case Center on Public Leadership and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Case Program , which focus on government, leadership and public policy case studies.

• Consider writing original cases - In the event that an instructor is unable to find open access cases relevant to their course learning objectives, they may choose to write their own. See the following resources on case writing: Cooking with Betty Crocker: A Recipe for Case Writing ; The Way of Flesch: The Art of Writing Readable Cases ;   Twixt Fact and Fiction: A Case Writer’s Dilemma ; And All That Jazz: An Essay Extolling the Virtues of Writing Case Teaching Notes .

Implementing Cases

Take baby steps if new to CBL - While entire courses and curricula may involve case-based learning, instructors who desire to implement on a smaller-scale can integrate a single case into their class, and increase the number of cases utilized over time as desired.

Use cases in classes that are small, medium or large - Cases can be scaled to any course size. In large classes with stadium seating, students can work with peers nearby, while in small classes with more flexible seating arrangements, teams can move their chairs closer together. CBL can introduce more noise (and energy) in the classroom to which an instructor often quickly becomes accustomed. Further, students can be asked to work on cases outside of class, and wrap up discussion during the next class meeting.

Encourage collaborative work - Cases present an opportunity for students to work together to solve cases which the historical literature supports as beneficial to student learning (Bruffee, 1993). Allow students to work in groups to answer case questions.

Form diverse teams as feasible - When students work within diverse teams they can be exposed to a variety of perspectives that can help them solve the case. Depending on the context of the course, priorities, and the background information gathered about the students enrolled in the class, instructors may choose to organize student groups to allow for diversity in factors such as current course grades, gender, race/ethnicity, personality, among other items.  

Use stable teams as appropriate - If CBL is a large component of the course, a research-supported practice is to keep teams together long enough to go through the stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman, 1965).

Walk around to guide groups - In CBL instructors serve as facilitators of student learning. Walking around allows the instructor to monitor student progress as well as identify and support any groups that may be struggling. Teaching assistants can also play a valuable role in supporting groups.

Interrupt strategically - Only every so often, for conversation in large group discussion of the case, especially when students appear confused on key concepts. An effective practice to help students meet case learning goals is to guide them as a whole group when the class is ready. This may include selecting a few student groups to present answers to discussion questions to the entire class, asking the class a question relevant to the case using polling software, and/or performing a mini-lesson on an area that appears to be confusing among students.  

Assess student learning in multiple ways - Students can be assessed informally by asking groups to report back answers to various case questions. This practice also helps students stay on task, and keeps them accountable. Cases can also be included on exams using related scenarios where students are asked to apply their knowledge.

Barrows HS. (1996). Problem-based learning in medicine and beyond: a brief overview. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 68, 3-12.  

Bonney KM. (2015). Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 16(1): 21-28.

Breslin M, Buchanan, R. (2008) On the Case Study Method of Research and Teaching in Design.  Design Issues, 24(1), 36-40.

Bruffee KS. (1993). Collaborative learning: Higher education, interdependence, and authority of knowledge. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.

Herreid CF. (2013). Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science, edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid. Originally published in 2006 by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA); reprinted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) in 2013.

Herreid CH. (1994). Case studies in science: A novel method of science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 23(4), 221–229.

Jonassen DH and Hernandez-Serrano J. (2002). Case-based reasoning and instructional design: Using stories to support problem solving. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 50(2), 65-77.  

Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E. (2005). Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature, 435, 673-676.

Krain M. (2016) Putting the learning in case learning? The effects of case-based approaches on student knowledge, attitudes, and engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 27(2), 131-153.

Lee V. (2012). What is Inquiry-Guided Learning?  New Directions for Learning, 129:5-14.

Nkhoma M, Sriratanaviriyakul N. (2017). Using case method to enrich students’ learning outcomes. Active Learning in Higher Education, 18(1):37-50.

Srinivasan et al. (2007). Comparing problem-based learning with case-based learning: Effects of a major curricular shift at two institutions. Academic Medicine, 82(1): 74-82.

Thistlethwaite JE et al. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education. A BEME systematic review: BEME Guide No. 23.  Medical Teacher, 34, e421-e444.

Tuckman B. (1965). Development sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-99.

Williams B. (2005). Case-based learning - a review of the literature: is there scope for this educational paradigm in prehospital education? Emerg Med, 22, 577-581.

Zak, PJ (2013). How Stories Change the Brain. Retrieved from: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_stories_change_brain

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5 Benefits of Learning Through the Case Study Method

• 28 Nov 2023

While several factors make HBS Online unique —including a global Community and real-world outcomes —active learning through the case study method rises to the top.

In a 2023 City Square Associates survey, 74 percent of HBS Online learners who also took a course from another provider said HBS Online’s case method and real-world examples were better by comparison.

Here’s a primer on the case method, five benefits you could gain, and how to experience it for yourself.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is the Harvard Business School Case Study Method?

The case study method , or case method , is a learning technique in which you’re presented with a real-world business challenge and asked how you’d solve it. After working through it yourself and with peers, you’re told how the scenario played out.

HBS pioneered the case method in 1922. Shortly before, in 1921, the first case was written.

“How do you go into an ambiguous situation and get to the bottom of it?” says HBS Professor Jan Rivkin, former senior associate dean and chair of HBS's master of business administration (MBA) program, in a video about the case method . “That skill—the skill of figuring out a course of inquiry to choose a course of action—that skill is as relevant today as it was in 1921.”

Originally developed for the in-person MBA classroom, HBS Online adapted the case method into an engaging, interactive online learning experience in 2014.

In HBS Online courses , you learn about each case from the business professional who experienced it. After reviewing their videos, you’re prompted to take their perspective and explain how you’d handle their situation.

You then get to read peers’ responses, “star” them, and comment to further the discussion. Afterward, you learn how the professional handled it and their key takeaways.

HBS Online’s adaptation of the case method incorporates the famed HBS “cold call,” in which you’re called on at random to make a decision without time to prepare.

“Learning came to life!” said Sheneka Balogun , chief administration officer and chief of staff at LeMoyne-Owen College, of her experience taking the Credential of Readiness (CORe) program . “The videos from the professors, the interactive cold calls where you were randomly selected to participate, and the case studies that enhanced and often captured the essence of objectives and learning goals were all embedded in each module. This made learning fun, engaging, and student-friendly.”

If you’re considering taking a course that leverages the case study method, here are five benefits you could experience.

5 Benefits of Learning Through Case Studies

1. take new perspectives.

The case method prompts you to consider a scenario from another person’s perspective. To work through the situation and come up with a solution, you must consider their circumstances, limitations, risk tolerance, stakeholders, resources, and potential consequences to assess how to respond.

Taking on new perspectives not only can help you navigate your own challenges but also others’. Putting yourself in someone else’s situation to understand their motivations and needs can go a long way when collaborating with stakeholders.

2. Hone Your Decision-Making Skills

Another skill you can build is the ability to make decisions effectively . The case study method forces you to use limited information to decide how to handle a problem—just like in the real world.

Throughout your career, you’ll need to make difficult decisions with incomplete or imperfect information—and sometimes, you won’t feel qualified to do so. Learning through the case method allows you to practice this skill in a low-stakes environment. When facing a real challenge, you’ll be better prepared to think quickly, collaborate with others, and present and defend your solution.

3. Become More Open-Minded

As you collaborate with peers on responses, it becomes clear that not everyone solves problems the same way. Exposing yourself to various approaches and perspectives can help you become a more open-minded professional.

When you’re part of a diverse group of learners from around the world, your experiences, cultures, and backgrounds contribute to a range of opinions on each case.

On the HBS Online course platform, you’re prompted to view and comment on others’ responses, and discussion is encouraged. This practice of considering others’ perspectives can make you more receptive in your career.

“You’d be surprised at how much you can learn from your peers,” said Ratnaditya Jonnalagadda , a software engineer who took CORe.

In addition to interacting with peers in the course platform, Jonnalagadda was part of the HBS Online Community , where he networked with other professionals and continued discussions sparked by course content.

“You get to understand your peers better, and students share examples of businesses implementing a concept from a module you just learned,” Jonnalagadda said. “It’s a very good way to cement the concepts in one's mind.”

4. Enhance Your Curiosity

One byproduct of taking on different perspectives is that it enables you to picture yourself in various roles, industries, and business functions.

“Each case offers an opportunity for students to see what resonates with them, what excites them, what bores them, which role they could imagine inhabiting in their careers,” says former HBS Dean Nitin Nohria in the Harvard Business Review . “Cases stimulate curiosity about the range of opportunities in the world and the many ways that students can make a difference as leaders.”

Through the case method, you can “try on” roles you may not have considered and feel more prepared to change or advance your career .

5. Build Your Self-Confidence

Finally, learning through the case study method can build your confidence. Each time you assume a business leader’s perspective, aim to solve a new challenge, and express and defend your opinions and decisions to peers, you prepare to do the same in your career.

According to a 2022 City Square Associates survey , 84 percent of HBS Online learners report feeling more confident making business decisions after taking a course.

“Self-confidence is difficult to teach or coach, but the case study method seems to instill it in people,” Nohria says in the Harvard Business Review . “There may well be other ways of learning these meta-skills, such as the repeated experience gained through practice or guidance from a gifted coach. However, under the direction of a masterful teacher, the case method can engage students and help them develop powerful meta-skills like no other form of teaching.”

How to Experience the Case Study Method

If the case method seems like a good fit for your learning style, experience it for yourself by taking an HBS Online course. Offerings span seven subject areas, including:

• Business essentials
• Leadership and management
• Entrepreneurship and innovation
• Finance and accounting
• Business in society

No matter which course or credential program you choose, you’ll examine case studies from real business professionals, work through their challenges alongside peers, and gain valuable insights to apply to your career.

Are you interested in discovering how HBS Online can help advance your career? Explore our course catalog and download our free guide —complete with interactive workbook sections—to determine if online learning is right for you and which course to take.

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What the Case Study Method Really Teaches

• Nitin Nohria

Seven meta-skills that stick even if the cases fade from memory.

It’s been 100 years since Harvard Business School began using the case study method. Beyond teaching specific subject matter, the case study method excels in instilling meta-skills in students. This article explains the importance of seven such skills: preparation, discernment, bias recognition, judgement, collaboration, curiosity, and self-confidence.

During my decade as dean of Harvard Business School, I spent hundreds of hours talking with our alumni. To enliven these conversations, I relied on a favorite question: “What was the most important thing you learned from your time in our MBA program?”

• Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. and Distinguished Service University Professor. He served as the 10th dean of Harvard Business School, from 2010 to 2020.

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Methodology

• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

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Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

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In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

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Case-Based Learning

What is case-based learning.

Using a case-based approach engages students in discussion of specific scenarios that resemble or typically are real-world examples. This method is learner-centered with intense interaction between participants as they build their knowledge and work together as a group to examine the case. The instructor's role is that of a facilitator while the students collaboratively analyze and address problems and resolve questions that have no single right answer.

Clyde Freeman Herreid provides eleven basic rules for case-based learning.

• Tells a story.
• Focuses on an interest-arousing issue.
• Set in the past five years
• Creates empathy with the central characters.
• Includes quotations. There is no better way to understand a situation and to gain empathy for the characters
• Relevant to the reader.
• Must have pedagogic utility.
• Conflict provoking.
• Decision forcing.
• Has generality.

Why Use Case-Based Learning?

To provide students with a relevant opportunity to see theory in practice. Real world or authentic contexts expose students to viewpoints from multiple sources and see why people may want different outcomes. Students can also see how a decision will impact different participants, both positively and negatively.

To require students to analyze data in order to reach a conclusion. Since many assignments are open-ended, students can practice choosing appropriate analytic techniques as well. Instructors who use case-based learning say that their students are more engaged, interested, and involved in the class.

To develop analytic, communicative and collaborative skills along with content knowledge. In their effort to find solutions and reach decisions through discussion, students sort out factual data, apply analytic tools, articulate issues, reflect on their relevant experiences, and draw conclusions they can relate to new situations. In the process, they acquire substantive knowledge and develop analytic, collaborative, and communication skills.

Many faculty also use case studies in their curriculum to teach content, connect students with real life data, or provide opportunities for students to put themselves in the decision maker's shoes.

Teaching Strategies for Case-Based Learning

By bringing real world problems into student learning, cases invite active participation and innovative solutions to problems as they work together to reach a judgment, decision, recommendation, prediction or other concrete outcome.

The Campus Instructional Consulting unit at Indiana University has created a great resource for case-based learning. The following is from their website which we have permission to use.

Formats for Cases

• “Finished” cases based on facts: for analysis only, since the solution is indicated or alternate solutions are suggested.
• “Unfinished” open-ended cases: the results are not yet clear (either because the case has not come to a factual conclusion in real life, or because the instructor has eliminated the final facts.) Students must predict, make choices and offer suggestions that will affect the outcome.
• Fictional cases: entirely written by the instructor—can be open-ended or finished. Cautionary note: the case must be both complex enough to mimic reality, yet not have so many “red herrings” as to obscure the goal of the exercise.
• Original documents: news articles, reports with data and statistics, summaries, excerpts from historical writings, artifacts, literary passages, video and audio recordings, ethnographies, etc. With the right questions, these can become problem-solving opportunities. Comparison between two original documents related to the same topic or theme is a strong strategy for encouraging both analysis and synthesis. This gives the opportunity for presenting more than one side of an argument, making the conflicts more complex.

Managing a Case Assignment

• Design discussions for small groups. 3-6 students are an ideal group size for setting up a discussion on a case.
• Design the narrative or situation such that it requires participants to reach a judgment, decision, recommendation, prediction or other concrete outcome. If possible, require each group to reach a consensus on the decision requested.
• Structure the discussion. The instructor should provide a series of written questions to guide small group discussion. Pay careful attention to the sequencing of the questions. Early questions might ask participants to make observations about the facts of the case. Later questions could ask for comparisons, contrasts, and analyses of competing observations or hypotheses. Final questions might ask students to take a position on the matter. The purpose of these questions is to stimulate, guide or prod (but not dictate) participants’ observations and analyses. The questions should be impossible to answer with a simple yes or no.
• Debrief the discussion to compare group responses. Help the whole class interprets and understand the implications of their solutions.
• Allow groups to work without instructor interference. The instructor must be comfortable with ambiguity and with adopting the non-traditional roles of witness and resource, rather than authority.

Designing Case Study Questions

Cases can be more or less “directed” by the kinds of questions asked. These kinds of questions can be appended to any case, or could be a handout for participants unfamiliar with case studies on how to approach one.

• What is the situation—what do you actually know about it from reading the case? (Distinguishes between fact and assumptions under critical understanding)
• What issues are at stake? (Opportunity for linking to theoretical readings)
• What questions do you have—what information do you still need? Where/how could you find it?
• What problem(s) need to be solved? (Opportunity to discuss communication versus conflict, gaps between assumptions, sides of the argument)
• What are all the possible options? What are the pros/cons of each option?
• What are the underlying assumptions for [person X] in the case—where do you see them?
• What criteria should you use when choosing an option? What does that mean about your assumptions?

Managing Discussion and Debate Effectively

• Delay the problem-solving part until the rest of the discussion has had time to develop. Start with expository questions to clarify the facts, then move to analysis, and finally to evaluation, judgment, and recommendations.
• Shift points of view: “Now that we’ve seen it from [W’s] standpoint, what’s happening here from [Y’s] standpoint?” What evidence would support Y’s position? What are the dynamics between the two positions?
• Shift levels of abstraction: if the answer to the question above is “It’s just a bad situation for her,” quotations help: When [Y] says “_____,” what are her assumptions? Or seek more concrete explanations: Why does she hold this point of view?”
• Ask for benefits/disadvantages of a position; for all sides.
• Shift time frame— not just to “What’s next?” but also to “How could this situation have been different?” What could have been done earlier to head off this conflict and turn it into a productive conversation? Is it too late to fix this? What are possible leverage points for a more productive discussion? What good can come of the existing situation?
• Shift to another context: We see how a person who thinks X would see the situation. How would a person who thinks Y see it? We see what happened in the Johannesburg news, how could this be handled in [your town/province]? How might [insert person, organization] address this problem?
• Follow-up questions: “What do you mean by ___?” Or, “Could you clarify what you said about ___?” (even if it was a pretty clear statement—this gives students time for thinking, developing different views, and exploration in more depth). Or “How would you square that observation with what [name of person] pointed out?”
• Point out and acknowledge differences in discussion— “that’s an interesting difference from what Sam just said, Sarah. Let’s look at where the differences lie.” (let sides clarify their points before moving on).

Herreid, C. F. (2007). Start with a story: The case study method of teaching college science. NSTA Press.

Select Books available through the Queen's Library

Crosling, G. & Webb, G. (2002). Supporting Student Learning: Case Studies, Experience and Practice from Higher Education. London: Kogan Page

Edwards, H., Smith, B., & Webb, G. (Eds.) (2001). Lecturing: Case Studies, Experience and Practice. London: Kogan Page.

Ellington, H. & Earl, S. (1998). Using Games, Simulations and Interactive Case Studies. Birmingham: Staff and Educational Development Association

Wassermann, S. (1994). Introduction to Case Method Teaching: A Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.

Online Articles

Bieron, J. & Dinan, F. (1999). Case Studies Across a Science Curriculum. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.

Walters. M. R. (1999). Case-stimulated learning within endocrine physiology lectures: An approach applicable to other disciplines. Advances in Physiology Education, 276, 74-78.

Websites and Online Case Collections

The Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey offers a wide variety of references including 21 links to case repositories in the Health Sciences.

The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science provides an award-winning library of over 410 cases and case materials while promoting the development and dissemination of innovative materials and sound educational practices for case teaching in the sciences.

Houghton and Mifflin provide an excellent resource for students including on analyzing and writing the case.

Using Case Studies to Teach

Why Use Cases?

Many students are more inductive than deductive reasoners, which means that they learn better from examples than from logical development starting with basic principles. The use of case studies can therefore be a very effective classroom technique.

Case studies are have long been used in business schools, law schools, medical schools and the social sciences, but they can be used in any discipline when instructors want students to explore how what they have learned applies to real world situations. Cases come in many formats, from a simple “What would you do in this situation?” question to a detailed description of a situation with accompanying data to analyze. Whether to use a simple scenario-type case or a complex detailed one depends on your course objectives.

Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action plan, proposal or decision.

Common Case Elements

Most “full-blown” cases have these common elements:

• A decision-maker who is grappling with some question or problem that needs to be solved.
• A description of the problem’s context (a law, an industry, a family).
• Supporting data, which can range from data tables to links to URLs, quoted statements or testimony, supporting documents, images, video, or audio.

Case assignments can be done individually or in teams so that the students can brainstorm solutions and share the work load.

The following discussion of this topic incorporates material presented by Robb Dixon of the School of Management and Rob Schadt of the School of Public Health at CEIT workshops. Professor Dixon also provided some written comments that the discussion incorporates.

Advantages to the use of case studies in class

A major advantage of teaching with case studies is that the students are actively engaged in figuring out the principles by abstracting from the examples. This develops their skills in:

• Problem solving
• Analytical tools, quantitative and/or qualitative, depending on the case
• Decision making in complex situations
• Coping with ambiguities

Guidelines for using case studies in class

In the most straightforward application, the presentation of the case study establishes a framework for analysis. It is helpful if the statement of the case provides enough information for the students to figure out solutions and then to identify how to apply those solutions in other similar situations. Instructors may choose to use several cases so that students can identify both the similarities and differences among the cases.

Depending on the course objectives, the instructor may encourage students to follow a systematic approach to their analysis.  For example:

• What is the issue?
• What is the goal of the analysis?
• What is the context of the problem?
• What key facts should be considered?
• What alternatives are available to the decision-maker?
• What would you recommend — and why?

An innovative approach to case analysis might be to have students  role-play the part of the people involved in the case. This not only actively engages students, but forces them to really understand the perspectives of the case characters. Videos or even field trips showing the venue in which the case is situated can help students to visualize the situation that they need to analyze.

Accompanying Readings

Case studies can be especially effective if they are paired with a reading assignment that introduces or explains a concept or analytical method that applies to the case. The amount of emphasis placed on the use of the reading during the case discussion depends on the complexity of the concept or method. If it is straightforward, the focus of the discussion can be placed on the use of the analytical results. If the method is more complex, the instructor may need to walk students through its application and the interpretation of the results.

Leading the Case Discussion and Evaluating Performance

Decision cases are more interesting than descriptive ones. In order to start the discussion in class, the instructor can start with an easy, noncontroversial question that all the students should be able to answer readily. However, some of the best case discussions start by forcing the students to take a stand. Some instructors will ask a student to do a formal “open” of the case, outlining his or her entire analysis.  Others may choose to guide discussion with questions that move students from problem identification to solutions.  A skilled instructor steers questions and discussion to keep the class on track and moving at a reasonable pace.

In order to motivate the students to complete the assignment before class as well as to stimulate attentiveness during the class, the instructor should grade the participation—quantity and especially quality—during the discussion of the case. This might be a simple check, check-plus, check-minus or zero. The instructor should involve as many students as possible. In order to engage all the students, the instructor can divide them into groups, give each group several minutes to discuss how to answer a question related to the case, and then ask a randomly selected person in each group to present the group’s answer and reasoning. Random selection can be accomplished through rolling of dice, shuffled index cards, each with one student’s name, a spinning wheel, etc.

Tips on the Penn State U. website: https://sites.psu.edu/pedagogicalpractices/case-studies/

If you are interested in using this technique in a science course, there is a good website on use of case studies in the sciences at the National Science Teaching Association.

What is the Case Study Method?

Overview Dropdown up

Overview dropdown down, celebrating 100 years of the case method at hbs.

The 2021-2022 academic year marks the 100-year anniversary of the introduction of the case method at Harvard Business School. Today, the HBS case method is employed in the HBS MBA program, in Executive Education programs, and in dozens of other business schools around the world. As Dean Srikant Datar's says, the case method has withstood the test of time.

Case Discussion Preparation Details Expand All Collapse All

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How Cases Unfold In the Classroom

How cases unfold in the classroom dropdown up, how cases unfold in the classroom dropdown down, preparation guidelines expand all collapse all, read the professor's assignment or discussion questions read the professor's assignment or discussion questions dropdown down, read the first few paragraphs and then skim the case read the first few paragraphs and then skim the case dropdown down, reread the case, underline text, and make margin notes reread the case, underline text, and make margin notes dropdown down, note the key problems on a pad of paper and go through the case again note the key problems on a pad of paper and go through the case again dropdown down, how to prepare for case discussions dropdown up, how to prepare for case discussions dropdown down, read the professor's assignment or discussion questions, read the first few paragraphs and then skim the case, reread the case, underline text, and make margin notes, note the key problems on a pad of paper and go through the case again, case study best practices expand all collapse all, prepare prepare dropdown down, discuss discuss dropdown down, participate participate dropdown down, relate relate dropdown down, apply apply dropdown down, note note dropdown down, understand understand dropdown down, case study best practices dropdown up, case study best practices dropdown down, participate, what can i expect on the first day dropdown down.

Most programs begin with registration, followed by an opening session and a dinner. If your travel plans necessitate late arrival, please be sure to notify us so that alternate registration arrangements can be made for you. Please note the following about registration:

HBS campus programs – Registration takes place in the Chao Center.

India programs – Registration takes place outside the classroom.

Other off-campus programs – Registration takes place in the designated facility.

What happens in class if nobody talks? Dropdown down

Professors are here to push everyone to learn, but not to embarrass anyone. If the class is quiet, they'll often ask a participant with experience in the industry in which the case is set to speak first. This is done well in advance so that person can come to class prepared to share. Trust the process. The more open you are, the more willing you’ll be to engage, and the more alive the classroom will become.

Does everyone take part in "role-playing"? Dropdown down

Professors often encourage participants to take opposing sides and then debate the issues, often taking the perspective of the case protagonists or key decision makers in the case.

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What Is a Case Study?

Weighing the pros and cons of this method of research

Verywell / Colleen Tighe

• Pros and Cons

What Types of Case Studies Are Out There?

Where do you find data for a case study, how do i write a psychology case study.

A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in many different fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.

The point of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population.

While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format similar to other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, we got you—here are some rules of APA format to reference.  

At a Glance

A case study, or an in-depth study of a person, group, or event, can be a useful research tool when used wisely. In many cases, case studies are best used in situations where it would be difficult or impossible for you to conduct an experiment. They are helpful for looking at unique situations and allow researchers to gather a lot of˜ information about a specific individual or group of people. However, it's important to be cautious of any bias we draw from them as they are highly subjective.

What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Case Studies?

A case study can have its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs.

One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate things that are often difficult or impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case study:

• Allows researchers to capture information on the 'how,' 'what,' and 'why,' of something that's implemented
• Gives researchers the chance to collect information on why one strategy might be chosen over another
• Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research

On the other hand, a case study can have some drawbacks:

• It cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population
• Cannot demonstrate cause and effect
• It may not be scientifically rigorous
• It can lead to bias

Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they want to explore a unique or recently discovered phenomenon. Through their insights, researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might be explored in future studies.

It's important to remember that the insights from case studies cannot be used to determine cause-and-effect relationships between variables. However, case studies may be used to develop hypotheses that can then be addressed in experimental research.

Case Study Examples

There have been a number of notable case studies in the history of psychology. Much of  Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies. Some great examples of case studies in psychology include:

• Anna O : Anna O. was a pseudonym of a woman named Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of a physician named Josef Breuer. While she was never a patient of Freud's, Freud and Breuer discussed her case extensively. The woman was experiencing symptoms of a condition that was then known as hysteria and found that talking about her problems helped relieve her symptoms. Her case played an important part in the development of talk therapy as an approach to mental health treatment.
• Phineas Gage : Phineas Gage was a railroad employee who experienced a terrible accident in which an explosion sent a metal rod through his skull, damaging important portions of his brain. Gage recovered from his accident but was left with serious changes in both personality and behavior.
• Genie : Genie was a young girl subjected to horrific abuse and isolation. The case study of Genie allowed researchers to study whether language learning was possible, even after missing critical periods for language development. Her case also served as an example of how scientific research may interfere with treatment and lead to further abuse of vulnerable individuals.

Such cases demonstrate how case research can be used to study things that researchers could not replicate in experimental settings. In Genie's case, her horrific abuse denied her the opportunity to learn a language at critical points in her development.

This is clearly not something researchers could ethically replicate, but conducting a case study on Genie allowed researchers to study phenomena that are otherwise impossible to reproduce.

There are a few different types of case studies that psychologists and other researchers might use:

• Collective case studies : These involve studying a group of individuals. Researchers might study a group of people in a certain setting or look at an entire community. For example, psychologists might explore how access to resources in a community has affected the collective mental well-being of those who live there.
• Descriptive case studies : These involve starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.
• Explanatory case studies : These   are often used to do causal investigations. In other words, researchers are interested in looking at factors that may have caused certain things to occur.
• Exploratory case studies : These are sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses .
• Instrumental case studies : These occur when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.
• Intrinsic case studies : This type of case study is when the researcher has a personal interest in the case. Jean Piaget's observations of his own children are good examples of how an intrinsic case study can contribute to the development of a psychological theory.

The three main case study types often used are intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. Intrinsic case studies are useful for learning about unique cases. Instrumental case studies help look at an individual to learn more about a broader issue. A collective case study can be useful for looking at several cases simultaneously.

The type of case study that psychology researchers use depends on the unique characteristics of the situation and the case itself.

There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. Six major sources that have been identified by researchers are:

• Archival records : Census records, survey records, and name lists are examples of archival records.
• Direct observation : This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting . While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.
• Documents : Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc., are the types of documents often used as sources.
• Interviews : Interviews are one of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey questions or more open-ended questions.
• Participant observation : When the researcher serves as a participant in events and observes the actions and outcomes, it is called participant observation.
• Physical artifacts : Tools, objects, instruments, and other artifacts are often observed during a direct observation of the subject.

If you have been directed to write a case study for a psychology course, be sure to check with your instructor for any specific guidelines you need to follow. If you are writing your case study for a professional publication, check with the publisher for their specific guidelines for submitting a case study.

Here is a general outline of what should be included in a case study.

Section 1: A Case History

This section will have the following structure and content:

Background information : The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, work, health status, family mental health history, family and social relationships, drug and alcohol history, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills and weaknesses.

Description of the presenting problem : In the next section of your case study, you will describe the problem or symptoms that the client presented with.

Describe any physical, emotional, or sensory symptoms reported by the client. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions related to the symptoms should also be noted. Any screening or diagnostic assessments that are used should also be described in detail and all scores reported.

Your diagnosis : Provide your diagnosis and give the appropriate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual code. Explain how you reached your diagnosis, how the client's symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s), or any possible difficulties in reaching a diagnosis.

Section 2: Treatment Plan

This portion of the paper will address the chosen treatment for the condition. This might also include the theoretical basis for the chosen treatment or any other evidence that might exist to support why this approach was chosen.

• Cognitive behavioral approach : Explain how a cognitive behavioral therapist would approach treatment. Offer background information on cognitive behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response, and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment.
• Humanistic approach : Describe a humanistic approach that could be used to treat your client, such as client-centered therapy . Provide information on the type of treatment you chose, the client's reaction to the treatment, and the end result of this approach. Explain why the treatment was successful or unsuccessful.
• Psychoanalytic approach : Describe how a psychoanalytic therapist would view the client's problem. Provide some background on the psychoanalytic approach and cite relevant references. Explain how psychoanalytic therapy would be used to treat the client, how the client would respond to therapy, and the effectiveness of this treatment approach.
• Pharmacological approach : If treatment primarily involves the use of medications, explain which medications were used and why. Provide background on the effectiveness of these medications and how monotherapy may compare with an approach that combines medications with therapy or other treatments.

This section of a case study should also include information about the treatment goals, process, and outcomes.

When you are writing a case study, you should also include a section where you discuss the case study itself, including the strengths and limitiations of the study. You should note how the findings of your case study might support previous research. 

In your discussion section, you should also describe some of the implications of your case study. What ideas or findings might require further exploration? How might researchers go about exploring some of these questions in additional studies?

Need More Tips?

Here are a few additional pointers to keep in mind when formatting your case study:

• Never refer to the subject of your case study as "the client." Instead, use their name or a pseudonym.
• Read examples of case studies to gain an idea about the style and format.
• Remember to use APA format when citing references .

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach .  BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011;11:100.

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011 Jun 27;11:100. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-100

Gagnon, Yves-Chantal.  The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook . Canada, Chicago Review Press Incorporated DBA Independent Pub Group, 2010.

Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . United States, SAGE Publications, 2017.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

How to… write a learning case study

By emma mcdowell , centre for cultural value.

We all learn in different ways – through our practice as much as through the evaluation that follows. But how can you communicate your own learning journey in a way that benefits others? What do you need to consider before you start developing a case study? What does an effective case study need to include?

This ‘How to…’ guide, developed by Emma McDowell, will help you to answer these questions, providing practical tips and guidance for writing case studies. It is designed for cultural practitioners working for organisations or independently who wish to critically reflect on and communicate key learning from their research and practice, as well as participants in the Centre for Cultural Value’s Collaborate research funding scheme .

1. What is a learning case study? 2. What to consider before writing your learning case study 3. What to include in your case study 4. Further reading and resources

What is a learning case study?

In the broadest sense, we write case studies to provide practical and illustrative examples from a practitioner or researcher’s experience and knowledge base to inform the practice of others. Done well, they can be extremely valuable for our own development, as well as being a useful tool for sharing learning with others. In the arts and cultural sector, case studies are often used to detail what you did, and the impacts and outcomes of your specific project or practice. However, as social scientist Robert Yin (2002) suggests, case studies have particular value in exploring how and why questions, within a specific context of practice.

Learning case studies have a more specific role. Firstly, they tend to focus on the processes (the ‘how’ of the story), which lead to the outcomes (the ‘what’ or ending of the story) (Denscombe, 2010). Like evaluations, they are most effective when they are informed by critical practice. This might involve taking into account the different perspectives and experiences of our participants, audiences, communities, and partners, and/or a more personal critical reflection on our own professional practice. But instead of providing a general overview of learning from all aspects of the projects, learning case studies clearly communicate one or two key narratives of learning and highlight how that learning might be relevant and helpful to practitioners working outside of the immediate context of the case study itself.

How does this guide work?

The guide begins with the section: ‘ What to consider when writing your case study ’ which outlines a series of do’s and ‘don’ts to bear in mind when you begin writing your case study. It also includes some prompts and links to resources to support the process of critically reflecting on your practice and identifying the key learning that you are hoping to communicate. These overarching considerations are not set out in any particular order for you to follow but are designed for you to refer to throughout the process of developing your learning case study.

The next section ‘ What to include in your case study ’ provides a series of sample headings or sections to include in your learning case study that you can refer to, or use to structure your thinking, as you progress. Throughout the guide, and in the final ‘ Further reading and resources ’ section, we have provided links to other learning case studies and How To… Guides that you might find useful to refer to at different stages of developing your own case study.

What to consider when writing your case study

Do : Critically reflect on your practice It can of course feel risky to share anything other than success stories. Not every cultural project will achieve the impact that it sets out to deliver all of its aims. This doesn’t mean that these projects are not of value. Learning case studies need to be framed as an experiment with ‘failing well’ baked in, so ensure you reflect honestly and openly about what your experiences and what you learnt, so you can create learning that can be built upon in the future.

Do: Consider who your case study is for Who will benefit the most from the learning outlined in your case study? If your case study is for practitioners like yourselves, working in a particular context, then say so. However, you might also like to consider how you might broaden out the learning to those beyond the ‘usual suspects’ - such as organisations in the wider arts sector, or research professionals interested in a particular area of your work.

Don't: Try and include everything into one case study While this might be useful for you, your case study will read more like a project evaluation, instead of being a focused, directed case study of one or two key areas of learning. Choose the elements of learning you wish to share carefully. Which are the most relevant and useful? Which shed the most light on your learning journey? Avoid simply describing these: seek instead to unearth the nuggets of wisdom others may benefit from.

Don't: Assume that the learning speaks for itself What is your case study actually about? By clearly identifying your own ‘hook’ or ‘angle’ on the learning as an individual (or organisation), you are also less likely to make the mistake of presuming that the value of your case study ‘speaks for itself’. The clearer and more explicit you can be about the value of your learning for others, the better.

Do: Make your case study accessible and easy to read

Layout : Your case study must be easy to read and ‘scannable’. Use sub-headings and bullet points to break up the text and help the reader navigate.

Language: Address the reader directly, using the active voice where possible. Use punchy language, concise sentences and short paragraphs. Avoid jargon, abbreviations and overly specialist language. Write with an open, facilitative and approachable tone of voice. Rather than just describing what happened, include your feelings (e.g ‘I was worried about…’ or ‘I felt excited the prospect’) to really open up the journey for the reader.

Visuals: Include photos or diagrams to help to explain your thinking.

References: Include details of resources that you have found helpful or have developed as a result of your project, if you feel they might be of interest to other practitioners.

Format: While you might want to embed your case study into your organisation’s webpage for easy access, consider also providing a PDF version for download. You might also want to include alternatives to the written format for your case study: for example, using video or animation as a tool for sharing a journey of learning.

Don't: Forget to collate all your relevant information before you begin This might seem like an obvious one, but it is difficult to write a full case study if you do not have access to all the information you need. This could include anything from details of the timeline of your project or the partners or participants who were involved, to broader information such as your expectations of the project in the beginning, or your original objectives. While a case study might include examples from your own experience and knowledge base, it is more likely to be useful to others if you are able to consider the wider impacts and experiences of your project alongside your own, so ensure you talk to different people where you can.

Hints and Tips

You might find the four steps of Kolb’s (1984) learning cycle helpful in structuring your own process of critical reflection. Start with: 1. Concrete experience [describe your experience] 2. Reflective observation [reflect on successes/failures] 3. Abstract conceptualisation [identify the learning] 4. Active experimentation [plan and try out a new way of working]

You might also find the How to… fail well guide , produced by the Failspace team , useful in further guiding you and your team in reflecting on how to better recognise, acknowledge and learn from failure.

Consider splitting your case study into two sections, as in this case study by Birds of Paradise Theatre Company: Making Assumptions about people’s access needs . The first section ‘What’s the story?’ tells the story of what happened, when and who was involved. The second section ‘What’s the learning?’ focuses on the how they resolved to learn from the story, and provides resources they developed as a result.

This case study by Aesop on ‘Knowing your own strength’ includes a diagram of their planning and evaluation logic model for their Active Ingredients programme, linking to resources that readers might find helpful in their own practice.

What to include in your case study

This section of the guide provides a series of broad, sample headings or sections to include in your learning case study.

Title Keep it short and snappy. Ideally this should introduce the reader to what the case study is about, relating to the angle or ‘hook’ and the key learning narrative that you explore in more depth in the case study.

Introduction An effective way to start an introduction is with a ‘pull quote’ which sums up the key learning experience that you are wanting to share. This can be from a participant, or member of the project team, or can just be an extract from the case study that is particularly engaging and reflects the tone of the case study. Your introduction should be two or three sentences that summarises who you are and what the case study aims to deliver. You might also want to start your case study with bullet points of key learning, similar to that of an executive summary, so that the reader gets a sense of what to expect from the rest of the document.

Research question/objectives This section should briefly outline the research question or main objectives that your project was designed to address. This will enable the reader to situate your project within a wider body of research and practice. For larger projects, you could provide an overview of the broad project aims of your project, and/or you could detail specific objectives of a particular aspect of your project; whatever provides the reader with a frame of reference for the remaining detail of the case study itself.

What’s the story? This section details the process or the ‘story’ you want to share. You might like to frame the narrative through your initial expectations of the project, for example, and how they were changed as the project progressed. Or you might prefer a more chronological approach, where you narrate the journey as you go and how you experienced it. However you do it, ensure you choose an approach that suits your learning journey, and tells your story in an engaging and creative way. Below are a list of questions as a starting point to help guide the writing of this section.

• How does this project fit into your usual or wider practice?
• What was it about this specific approach that was innovative or experimental? What were the risks?
• What were the aims and what did you hope to achieve from the actions / activities described?
• What were you excited about? What were you scared about?
• What hurdles or crises (both practical and relational) did you meet along the way and how did you deal with them?

What’s the learning? This is where you clearly communicate the lessons that you learnt along the way. You will find this section easier once you have carried out some critical reflection and evaluation of your practice, ideally with others in your team.

This is where you pick out elements of the story and consider what their learning value was for others. We have included some questions below to get you started:

• What happened? What worked as expected and what didn’t? Why were there differences?
• What were the wins? What were the failures?
• Were there any ‘aha’ moments where something clicked for you? Any serendipitous or unexpected moments that shed light on some key learning?
• What did you have to sacrifice or compromise on to achieve the outcomes that you did?
• What do you wish you’d known at the start? How would you have done things differently? How will this impact your future work?
• How and with whom did you approach the process of critical reflection? How was that for you? What did you learn about your practice?
• And finally… so what? Why do you think this is valuable learning for others? What do you want others to learn from this story?

Additional information Finally, your case study should include additional information and useful resources for any reader who is interested in finding out more. For example, you will want to include the biography/ies of the author/s of the case study, as well as the company background, summarising who you are and how to find out more about your work. In addition, it’s good practice to also include links to related materials such as research, evidence or evaluations that informed your work, or that relate in some way to your project.

Glossary of terms This section could also include a glossary of terms for any essential specialist terms you have used throughout your case study. Ideally, provide a description of what these terms mean in your own words.

More Hints and Tips

Managing multiple agendas and ownership in complex, large-scale projects by Clare Williams is a great example of a learning case study using a quotation at the start to draw the reader in to the context and the learning: ‘My older, wiser, more cynical self would ask my buoyant, enthusiastic, younger self if I should have asked the fundamental question before this all began… Whose project is this?’

For support on developing the research questions that structure your research project, check out this How to guide on Writing Research Question s developed by Lisa Baxter.

To help guide this process in collaborative research projects, you might find the planning and framework questions in this How to… co-commission research guide by Kerry Harker.

In the How to…co-create an evaluation guide , Mark Robinson suggests an ‘after action’ review of a project can help to identify areas to improve and consolidate what works with different stakeholders and audiences you work with. Mark suggests five simple questions to start with: What was supposed to happen?; What actually happened?; Why were there differences?; What have we learnt?; What does this mean for us in the future?

Further reading and resources

Examples of Learning Case Studies and How To… Guides can be found on the Centre for Cultural Value’s resources page , some of which are listed below.

How to… fail well , produced by the Failspace team, is a useful resource for better recognising, acknowledging and learning from failure. Check out their website for further information on the project and tools designed for all project stages, from planning, delivery to evaluation.

How to… develop a research question , produced by Lisa Baxter, is a helpful tool for developing research questions and approaches to effectively tackle particular issues or challenges facing arts and cultural organisations.

How to… co-commission research , produced by Kerry Harker, provides practical information and reflective questions to help you develop a research project with partners. It also outlines a series of planning and framework questions you might need to consider when working collaboratively.

How to… co-create an evaluation , produced by Mark Robinson, will help you think about how every stage of your evaluation process, from planning to action to review, can be developed with the different stakeholders and audiences you work with.

Artistic leadership as community co-creation: cultural participation in Flood 2017 . In this case study, members from Slung Low discuss the challenges they faced in taking on their biggest outdoor project to date.

Rising to the challenge: learning through meaningful dialogue with people and places : In this learning case study Louise Yates from Back to Ours shares her experience of delivering a large-scale production for the community, by the community. She explains how dialogue, engagement and listening to local audiences became key.

Managing risk: Lesson from staging site-specific theatre : An exploration of oil. Judith Doherty, Producer, Chief Executive and Co-Artistic Director of Grid Iron Theatre Company reflects on the challenges associated with staging site-specific theatre, and finding the balance between taking acceptable risks versus decisions that could negatively impact an organisation’s future.

Working in partnership with funders to foster learning : Rachel Kingdom, Development Manager for Yorkshire Dance, shares how their recent project ‘In Mature Company’ can act as a template for a way of working with funders, a partnership based on open communication and ongoing dialogue.

Making assumptions about people’s access needs : how we learnt from our mistake. Mairi Taylor, Executive Producer of Birds of Paradise Theatre company, reflects on how they as a company learnt from their mistake of making assumptions about people’s access needs and how they developed a company-wide, universal mechanism to ensure that it would never happen again.

Knowing your own strength: Towards a more nuanced understanding of artistic outcomes in arts-in-health research . Tim Joss from Aesop shares learning from the Dance to Health programme and the role research and evaluation played in the programme itself and the learning it generated.

Upholding our commitment to art and audience : In this example, Rachael Disbury, Production Director at Alchemy Film & Arts shares how the organisation changed their approach to audience engagement, paying close attention to what wasn’t working and creating more tailored approaches for engagement as a result.

Managing multiple agendas and ownership in complex, large-scale projects . Cauldrons and Furnaces / Crochan a Ffwrnais. Clare Williams reflects on managing multiple agendas and questions of ownership in complex large-scale projects.

For further reading on case study as a research method, as referenced in this guide.

• Denscombe, M. (2010) The Good Research Guide. Fourth Edition. Open University Press. (Chatper 2 ‘Case Studies’ pp.52-64).
• Yin, R.K. (2002) Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Third Edition - Applied Social Methods Series. Sage: London

Details of Kolb’s reflective cycle were based on Kolb, D.A. [1984] Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Eaglewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Related resources

How to… develop a research question

How to … fail well

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Case Studies: Bringing Learning to Life and Making Knowledge Stick

Learning by doing is a highly effective and proven strategy for knowledge retention. But sometimes, learning about others who have “done”—using case studies, for example—can be an excellent addition to or replacement for hands-on learning. Case studies―a vital tool in the problem-based learning toolkit—can turbocharge lessons in any subject, but they are particularly useful teaching aids in subjects like Medicine, Law or Forensic Science , where hands-on experiences may not initially be possible.

Here’s a look at how this type of problem-based learning functions to make learning stick and how any faculty member can use them to facilitate deeper, richer learning experiences:

Case studies complement theoretical information 

Reading about scientific principles in a textbook challenges students to think deductively and use their imagination to apply what they’re learning to real-world scenarios. It’s an important skill set. Not all information can or should be packaged up and handed to students, pre-formed; we want students to become critical thinkers and smart decision-makers who are capable of forming their own insights and opinions. 

However, the strategic use of case studies, as a companion to required reading, can help students see theoretical information in a new light, and often for the first time. In short, a case study can bring to life what is often dry and difficult material, transforming it into something powerful, and inspiring students to keep learning. Furthermore, the ability to select or create case studies can give students greater agency in their learning experiences, helping them steer their educational experiences towards topics they find interesting and meaningful. 

What does the research show about using case studies in educational settings? For one, when used in group settings, the use of case studies is proven to promote collaboration while promoting the application of theory. Furthermore, case studies are proven to promote the consideration of diverse cultures, perspectives, and ideas. Beyond that? They help students to broaden their professional acumen —a vitally necessary part of the higher education experience. 

Case studies can be what you want them to be, but they should follow a formula  

Faculty may choose to use case studies in any number of ways, including asking students to read existing case studies, or even challenging them to build their own case studies based on real or hypothetical situations. This can be done individually or in a group. It may be done in the classroom, at home, or in a professional setting. Case studies can take on a wide variety of formats. They may be just a few paragraphs or 30 pages long. They may be prescriptive and challenge readers to create a takeaway or propose a different way of doing things. Or, they may simply ask readers to understand how things were done in a specific case. Beyond written case studies, videos or slide decks can be equally compelling formats. One faculty member even asks students to get theatrical and act out a solution in their sociology class.  

Regardless of format, a case study works best when it roughly follows an arc of problem, solution and results. All case studies must present a problem that doesn’t have an immediately clear solution or result. For example, a medical student may read a case study detailing the hospital admission of a 42-year-old woman who presents to the emergency room with persistent and severe calf pain, but has normal blood tests and ultrasound imaging. What should the physician consider next? A law student might read a case study about an elderly man involved in a car accident who denies any memory of the event. What legal angles should be considered?

Case studies – get started

Are you eager to use case studies with your students? Cengage higher education titles typically contain case studies and real-world examples that bring learning to life and help knowledge stick. Below are some learning materials, spanning a range of subjects, that can help your students reap the proven benefits of case study learning:

Accounting, 29e

Award-winning authors Carl Warren, Jefferson P. Jones and William B. Tayler offer students the opportunity to analyze real-world business decisions and show how accounting is used by real companies.

Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations, 7e

“Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations” by Bill Nelson, Amelia Phillips, Christopher Steuart and Robert S. Wilson includes case projects aimed at providing practical implementation experience, as well as practice in applying critical thinking skills.

Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings, 10e

Marianne M. Jennings’ best-selling “Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings, 10e” explores a proven process for analyzing ethical dilemmas and creating stronger values.

Anatomy & Physiology, 1e

Author Dr. Liz Co includes a chapter composed entirely of case studies to give students additional practice in critical thinking. The cases can be assigned at the end of the semester or at intervals as the instructor chooses.

Psychopathology and Life: A Dimensional Approach, 11e

Christopher Kearney offers a concise, contemporary and science-based view of psychopathology that emphasizes the individual first. Geared toward cases to which most college students can relate, helping them understand that symptoms of psychological problems occur in many people in different ways.

Understanding Psychological Disorders Enhanced, 12e

In “Understanding Psychological Disorders Enhanced” by David Sue, Derald Sue, Diane M. Sue and Stanley Sue, students can explore current events, real-world case studies and the latest developments from the field.

Policing in the US: Past, Present, and Future, 1e

This comprehensive and timely text by Lorenzo M. Boyd, Melissa S. Morabito and Larry J. Siegel examines the current state of American policing, offering a fresh and balanced look at contemporary issues in law enforcement. Each chapter opens with a real-life case or incident.

Public Speaking: The Evolving Art, 5e

With a student-centered approach, “Public Speaking: The Evolving Art” by Stephanie J. Coopman and James Lull includes innovative solutions to current issues, including critically assessing the credibility of information sources. A diverse collection of sample student and professional presentations encourage students to consider chapter concepts in the context of real speeches.

Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapies, 11e

Dr. Gerald Corey’s best-selling text helps readers compare and contrast the therapeutic models expressed in counseling theories.

Related articles

The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

• Introduction and overview
• What is qualitative research?
• What is qualitative data?
• Examples of qualitative data
• Qualitative vs. quantitative research
• Mixed methods
• Qualitative research preparation
• Theoretical perspective
• Theoretical framework
• Literature reviews

Research question

• Conceptual framework
• Conceptual vs. theoretical framework

Data collection

• Qualitative research methods
• Focus groups
• Observational research

What is a case study?

Applications for case study research, what is a good case study, process of case study design, benefits and limitations of case studies.

• Ethnographical research
• Ethical considerations
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Power dynamics
• Reflexivity

Case studies

Case studies are essential to qualitative research , offering a lens through which researchers can investigate complex phenomena within their real-life contexts. This chapter explores the concept, purpose, applications, examples, and types of case studies and provides guidance on how to conduct case study research effectively.

Whereas quantitative methods look at phenomena at scale, case study research looks at a concept or phenomenon in considerable detail. While analyzing a single case can help understand one perspective regarding the object of research inquiry, analyzing multiple cases can help obtain a more holistic sense of the topic or issue. Let's provide a basic definition of a case study, then explore its characteristics and role in the qualitative research process.

Definition of a case study

A case study in qualitative research is a strategy of inquiry that involves an in-depth investigation of a phenomenon within its real-world context. It provides researchers with the opportunity to acquire an in-depth understanding of intricate details that might not be as apparent or accessible through other methods of research. The specific case or cases being studied can be a single person, group, or organization – demarcating what constitutes a relevant case worth studying depends on the researcher and their research question .

Among qualitative research methods , a case study relies on multiple sources of evidence, such as documents, artifacts, interviews , or observations , to present a complete and nuanced understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The objective is to illuminate the readers' understanding of the phenomenon beyond its abstract statistical or theoretical explanations.

Characteristics of case studies

Case studies typically possess a number of distinct characteristics that set them apart from other research methods. These characteristics include a focus on holistic description and explanation, flexibility in the design and data collection methods, reliance on multiple sources of evidence, and emphasis on the context in which the phenomenon occurs.

Furthermore, case studies can often involve a longitudinal examination of the case, meaning they study the case over a period of time. These characteristics allow case studies to yield comprehensive, in-depth, and richly contextualized insights about the phenomenon of interest.

The role of case studies in research

Case studies hold a unique position in the broader landscape of research methods aimed at theory development. They are instrumental when the primary research interest is to gain an intensive, detailed understanding of a phenomenon in its real-life context.

In addition, case studies can serve different purposes within research - they can be used for exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory purposes, depending on the research question and objectives. This flexibility and depth make case studies a valuable tool in the toolkit of qualitative researchers.

Remember, a well-conducted case study can offer a rich, insightful contribution to both academic and practical knowledge through theory development or theory verification, thus enhancing our understanding of complex phenomena in their real-world contexts.

What is the purpose of a case study?

Case study research aims for a more comprehensive understanding of phenomena, requiring various research methods to gather information for qualitative analysis . Ultimately, a case study can allow the researcher to gain insight into a particular object of inquiry and develop a theoretical framework relevant to the research inquiry.

Why use case studies in qualitative research?

Using case studies as a research strategy depends mainly on the nature of the research question and the researcher's access to the data.

Conducting case study research provides a level of detail and contextual richness that other research methods might not offer. They are beneficial when there's a need to understand complex social phenomena within their natural contexts.

The explanatory, exploratory, and descriptive roles of case studies

Case studies can take on various roles depending on the research objectives. They can be exploratory when the research aims to discover new phenomena or define new research questions; they are descriptive when the objective is to depict a phenomenon within its context in a detailed manner; and they can be explanatory if the goal is to understand specific relationships within the studied context. Thus, the versatility of case studies allows researchers to approach their topic from different angles, offering multiple ways to uncover and interpret the data .

The impact of case studies on knowledge development

Case studies play a significant role in knowledge development across various disciplines. Analysis of cases provides an avenue for researchers to explore phenomena within their context based on the collected data.

This can result in the production of rich, practical insights that can be instrumental in both theory-building and practice. Case studies allow researchers to delve into the intricacies and complexities of real-life situations, uncovering insights that might otherwise remain hidden.

Types of case studies

In qualitative research , a case study is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on the nature of the research question and the specific objectives of the study, researchers might choose to use different types of case studies. These types differ in their focus, methodology, and the level of detail they provide about the phenomenon under investigation.

Understanding these types is crucial for selecting the most appropriate approach for your research project and effectively achieving your research goals. Let's briefly look at the main types of case studies.

Exploratory case studies

Exploratory case studies are typically conducted to develop a theory or framework around an understudied phenomenon. They can also serve as a precursor to a larger-scale research project. Exploratory case studies are useful when a researcher wants to identify the key issues or questions which can spur more extensive study or be used to develop propositions for further research. These case studies are characterized by flexibility, allowing researchers to explore various aspects of a phenomenon as they emerge, which can also form the foundation for subsequent studies.

Descriptive case studies

Descriptive case studies aim to provide a complete and accurate representation of a phenomenon or event within its context. These case studies are often based on an established theoretical framework, which guides how data is collected and analyzed. The researcher is concerned with describing the phenomenon in detail, as it occurs naturally, without trying to influence or manipulate it.

Explanatory case studies

Explanatory case studies are focused on explanation - they seek to clarify how or why certain phenomena occur. Often used in complex, real-life situations, they can be particularly valuable in clarifying causal relationships among concepts and understanding the interplay between different factors within a specific context.

Intrinsic, instrumental, and collective case studies

These three categories of case studies focus on the nature and purpose of the study. An intrinsic case study is conducted when a researcher has an inherent interest in the case itself. Instrumental case studies are employed when the case is used to provide insight into a particular issue or phenomenon. A collective case study, on the other hand, involves studying multiple cases simultaneously to investigate some general phenomena.

Each type of case study serves a different purpose and has its own strengths and challenges. The selection of the type should be guided by the research question and objectives, as well as the context and constraints of the research.

The flexibility, depth, and contextual richness offered by case studies make this approach an excellent research method for various fields of study. They enable researchers to investigate real-world phenomena within their specific contexts, capturing nuances that other research methods might miss. Across numerous fields, case studies provide valuable insights into complex issues.

Critical information systems research

Case studies provide a detailed understanding of the role and impact of information systems in different contexts. They offer a platform to explore how information systems are designed, implemented, and used and how they interact with various social, economic, and political factors. Case studies in this field often focus on examining the intricate relationship between technology, organizational processes, and user behavior, helping to uncover insights that can inform better system design and implementation.

Health research

Health research is another field where case studies are highly valuable. They offer a way to explore patient experiences, healthcare delivery processes, and the impact of various interventions in a real-world context.

Case studies can provide a deep understanding of a patient's journey, giving insights into the intricacies of disease progression, treatment effects, and the psychosocial aspects of health and illness.

Asthma research studies

Specifically within medical research, studies on asthma often employ case studies to explore the individual and environmental factors that influence asthma development, management, and outcomes. A case study can provide rich, detailed data about individual patients' experiences, from the triggers and symptoms they experience to the effectiveness of various management strategies. This can be crucial for developing patient-centered asthma care approaches.

Other fields

Apart from the fields mentioned, case studies are also extensively used in business and management research, education research, and political sciences, among many others. They provide an opportunity to delve into the intricacies of real-world situations, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of various phenomena.

Case studies, with their depth and contextual focus, offer unique insights across these varied fields. They allow researchers to illuminate the complexities of real-life situations, contributing to both theory and practice.

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Understanding the key elements of case study design is crucial for conducting rigorous and impactful case study research. A well-structured design guides the researcher through the process, ensuring that the study is methodologically sound and its findings are reliable and valid. The main elements of case study design include the research question , propositions, units of analysis, and the logic linking the data to the propositions.

The research question is the foundation of any research study. A good research question guides the direction of the study and informs the selection of the case, the methods of collecting data, and the analysis techniques. A well-formulated research question in case study research is typically clear, focused, and complex enough to merit further detailed examination of the relevant case(s).

Propositions

Propositions, though not necessary in every case study, provide a direction by stating what we might expect to find in the data collected. They guide how data is collected and analyzed by helping researchers focus on specific aspects of the case. They are particularly important in explanatory case studies, which seek to understand the relationships among concepts within the studied phenomenon.

Units of analysis

The unit of analysis refers to the case, or the main entity or entities that are being analyzed in the study. In case study research, the unit of analysis can be an individual, a group, an organization, a decision, an event, or even a time period. It's crucial to clearly define the unit of analysis, as it shapes the qualitative data analysis process by allowing the researcher to analyze a particular case and synthesize analysis across multiple case studies to draw conclusions.

Argumentation

This refers to the inferential model that allows researchers to draw conclusions from the data. The researcher needs to ensure that there is a clear link between the data, the propositions (if any), and the conclusions drawn. This argumentation is what enables the researcher to make valid and credible inferences about the phenomenon under study.

Understanding and carefully considering these elements in the design phase of a case study can significantly enhance the quality of the research. It can help ensure that the study is methodologically sound and its findings contribute meaningful insights about the case.

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Conducting a case study involves several steps, from defining the research question and selecting the case to collecting and analyzing data . This section outlines these key stages, providing a practical guide on how to conduct case study research.

Defining the research question

The first step in case study research is defining a clear, focused research question. This question should guide the entire research process, from case selection to analysis. It's crucial to ensure that the research question is suitable for a case study approach. Typically, such questions are exploratory or descriptive in nature and focus on understanding a phenomenon within its real-life context.

Selecting and defining the case

The selection of the case should be based on the research question and the objectives of the study. It involves choosing a unique example or a set of examples that provide rich, in-depth data about the phenomenon under investigation. After selecting the case, it's crucial to define it clearly, setting the boundaries of the case, including the time period and the specific context.

Previous research can help guide the case study design. When considering a case study, an example of a case could be taken from previous case study research and used to define cases in a new research inquiry. Considering recently published examples can help understand how to select and define cases effectively.

Developing a detailed case study protocol

A case study protocol outlines the procedures and general rules to be followed during the case study. This includes the data collection methods to be used, the sources of data, and the procedures for analysis. Having a detailed case study protocol ensures consistency and reliability in the study.

The protocol should also consider how to work with the people involved in the research context to grant the research team access to collecting data. As mentioned in previous sections of this guide, establishing rapport is an essential component of qualitative research as it shapes the overall potential for collecting and analyzing data.

Collecting data

Gathering data in case study research often involves multiple sources of evidence, including documents, archival records, interviews, observations, and physical artifacts. This allows for a comprehensive understanding of the case. The process for gathering data should be systematic and carefully documented to ensure the reliability and validity of the study.

Analyzing and interpreting data

The next step is analyzing the data. This involves organizing the data , categorizing it into themes or patterns , and interpreting these patterns to answer the research question. The analysis might also involve comparing the findings with prior research or theoretical propositions.

Writing the case study report

The final step is writing the case study report . This should provide a detailed description of the case, the data, the analysis process, and the findings. The report should be clear, organized, and carefully written to ensure that the reader can understand the case and the conclusions drawn from it.

Each of these steps is crucial in ensuring that the case study research is rigorous, reliable, and provides valuable insights about the case.

The type, depth, and quality of data in your study can significantly influence the validity and utility of the study. In case study research, data is usually collected from multiple sources to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the case. This section will outline the various methods of collecting data used in case study research and discuss considerations for ensuring the quality of the data.

Interviews are a common method of gathering data in case study research. They can provide rich, in-depth data about the perspectives, experiences, and interpretations of the individuals involved in the case. Interviews can be structured , semi-structured , or unstructured , depending on the research question and the degree of flexibility needed.

Observations

Observations involve the researcher observing the case in its natural setting, providing first-hand information about the case and its context. Observations can provide data that might not be revealed in interviews or documents, such as non-verbal cues or contextual information.

Documents and artifacts

Documents and archival records provide a valuable source of data in case study research. They can include reports, letters, memos, meeting minutes, email correspondence, and various public and private documents related to the case.

These records can provide historical context, corroborate evidence from other sources, and offer insights into the case that might not be apparent from interviews or observations.

Physical artifacts refer to any physical evidence related to the case, such as tools, products, or physical environments. These artifacts can provide tangible insights into the case, complementing the data gathered from other sources.

Ensuring the quality of data collection

Determining the quality of data in case study research requires careful planning and execution. It's crucial to ensure that the data is reliable, accurate, and relevant to the research question. This involves selecting appropriate methods of collecting data, properly training interviewers or observers, and systematically recording and storing the data. It also includes considering ethical issues related to collecting and handling data, such as obtaining informed consent and ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the participants.

Data analysis

Analyzing case study research involves making sense of the rich, detailed data to answer the research question. This process can be challenging due to the volume and complexity of case study data. However, a systematic and rigorous approach to analysis can ensure that the findings are credible and meaningful. This section outlines the main steps and considerations in analyzing data in case study research.

Organizing the data

The first step in the analysis is organizing the data. This involves sorting the data into manageable sections, often according to the data source or the theme. This step can also involve transcribing interviews, digitizing physical artifacts, or organizing observational data.

Categorizing and coding the data

Once the data is organized, the next step is to categorize or code the data. This involves identifying common themes, patterns, or concepts in the data and assigning codes to relevant data segments. Coding can be done manually or with the help of software tools, and in either case, qualitative analysis software can greatly facilitate the entire coding process. Coding helps to reduce the data to a set of themes or categories that can be more easily analyzed.

Identifying patterns and themes

After coding the data, the researcher looks for patterns or themes in the coded data. This involves comparing and contrasting the codes and looking for relationships or patterns among them. The identified patterns and themes should help answer the research question.

Interpreting the data

Once patterns and themes have been identified, the next step is to interpret these findings. This involves explaining what the patterns or themes mean in the context of the research question and the case. This interpretation should be grounded in the data, but it can also involve drawing on theoretical concepts or prior research.

Verification of the data

The last step in the analysis is verification. This involves checking the accuracy and consistency of the analysis process and confirming that the findings are supported by the data. This can involve re-checking the original data, checking the consistency of codes, or seeking feedback from research participants or peers.

Like any research method , case study research has its strengths and limitations. Researchers must be aware of these, as they can influence the design, conduct, and interpretation of the study.

Understanding the strengths and limitations of case study research can also guide researchers in deciding whether this approach is suitable for their research question . This section outlines some of the key strengths and limitations of case study research.

Benefits include the following:

• Rich, detailed data: One of the main strengths of case study research is that it can generate rich, detailed data about the case. This can provide a deep understanding of the case and its context, which can be valuable in exploring complex phenomena.
• Flexibility: Case study research is flexible in terms of design , data collection , and analysis . A sufficient degree of flexibility allows the researcher to adapt the study according to the case and the emerging findings.
• Real-world context: Case study research involves studying the case in its real-world context, which can provide valuable insights into the interplay between the case and its context.
• Multiple sources of evidence: Case study research often involves collecting data from multiple sources , which can enhance the robustness and validity of the findings.

On the other hand, researchers should consider the following limitations:

• Generalizability: A common criticism of case study research is that its findings might not be generalizable to other cases due to the specificity and uniqueness of each case.
• Time and resource intensive: Case study research can be time and resource intensive due to the depth of the investigation and the amount of collected data.
• Complexity of analysis: The rich, detailed data generated in case study research can make analyzing the data challenging.
• Subjectivity: Given the nature of case study research, there may be a higher degree of subjectivity in interpreting the data , so researchers need to reflect on this and transparently convey to audiences how the research was conducted.

Being aware of these strengths and limitations can help researchers design and conduct case study research effectively and interpret and report the findings appropriately.

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Making Learning Relevant With Case Studies

The open-ended problems presented in case studies give students work that feels connected to their lives.

To prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet, we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers so that they’ll be ready for anything. One way to do this is by teaching content and skills using real-world case studies, a learning model that’s focused on reflection during the problem-solving process. It’s similar to project-based learning, but PBL is more focused on students creating a product.

Case studies have been used for years by businesses, law and medical schools, physicians on rounds, and artists critiquing work. Like other forms of problem-based learning, case studies can be accessible for every age group, both in one subject and in interdisciplinary work.

You can get started with case studies by tackling relatable questions like these with your students:

• How can we limit food waste in the cafeteria?
• How can we get our school to recycle and compost waste? (Or, if you want to be more complex, how can our school reduce its carbon footprint?)
• How can we improve school attendance?
• How can we reduce the number of people who get sick at school during cold and flu season?

Addressing questions like these leads students to identify topics they need to learn more about. In researching the first question, for example, students may see that they need to research food chains and nutrition. Students often ask, reasonably, why they need to learn something, or when they’ll use their knowledge in the future. Learning is most successful for students when the content and skills they’re studying are relevant, and case studies offer one way to create that sense of relevance.

Teaching With Case Studies

Ultimately, a case study is simply an interesting problem with many correct answers. What does case study work look like in classrooms? Teachers generally start by having students read the case or watch a video that summarizes the case. Students then work in small groups or individually to solve the case study. Teachers set milestones defining what students should accomplish to help them manage their time.

During the case study learning process, student assessment of learning should be focused on reflection. Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick’s Learning and Leading With Habits of Mind gives several examples of what this reflection can look like in a classroom: 

Journaling: At the end of each work period, have students write an entry summarizing what they worked on, what worked well, what didn’t, and why. Sentence starters and clear rubrics or guidelines will help students be successful. At the end of a case study project, as Costa and Kallick write, it’s helpful to have students “select significant learnings, envision how they could apply these learnings to future situations, and commit to an action plan to consciously modify their behaviors.”

Interviews: While working on a case study, students can interview each other about their progress and learning. Teachers can interview students individually or in small groups to assess their learning process and their progress.

Student discussion: Discussions can be unstructured—students can talk about what they worked on that day in a think-pair-share or as a full class—or structured, using Socratic seminars or fishbowl discussions. If your class is tackling a case study in small groups, create a second set of small groups with a representative from each of the case study groups so that the groups can share their learning.

4 Tips for Setting Up a Case Study

1. Identify a problem to investigate: This should be something accessible and relevant to students’ lives. The problem should also be challenging and complex enough to yield multiple solutions with many layers.

2. Give context: Think of this step as a movie preview or book summary. Hook the learners to help them understand just enough about the problem to want to learn more.

3. Have a clear rubric: Giving structure to your definition of quality group work and products will lead to stronger end products. You may be able to have your learners help build these definitions.

4. Provide structures for presenting solutions: The amount of scaffolding you build in depends on your students’ skill level and development. A case study product can be something like several pieces of evidence of students collaborating to solve the case study, and ultimately presenting their solution with a detailed slide deck or an essay—you can scaffold this by providing specified headings for the sections of the essay.

Problem-Based Teaching Resources

There are many high-quality, peer-reviewed resources that are open source and easily accessible online.

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo built an online collection of more than 800 cases that cover topics ranging from biochemistry to economics. There are resources for middle and high school students.
• Models of Excellence , a project maintained by EL Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has examples of great problem- and project-based tasks—and corresponding exemplary student work—for grades pre-K to 12.
• The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning at Purdue University is an open-source journal that publishes examples of problem-based learning in K–12 and post-secondary classrooms.
• The Tech Edvocate has a list of websites and tools related to problem-based learning.

In their book Problems as Possibilities , Linda Torp and Sara Sage write that at the elementary school level, students particularly appreciate how they feel that they are taken seriously when solving case studies. At the middle school level, “researchers stress the importance of relating middle school curriculum to issues of student concern and interest.” And high schoolers, they write, find the case study method “beneficial in preparing them for their future.”

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• Story-based Learning
• Case Study, Scenario, Story: What's the Difference?

Case Study, Scenario, Story: What’s the Difference?

The term Case Study is often used loosely and interchangeably with the terms scenario and story-based learning. This often causes a lot of confusion. Some may argue “what’s in a name”, but others, especially those who diligently practice the craft of instructional design, will empathize with me.

Many unnecessary debates, discussions and re-scripting happen due to the lack of a common understanding of these terms. What if we could devise a method to elicit exactly what the client desires? But, is it possible to cut down the iterations and figure this out up-front? Well, we can definitely make an effort. Let’s see how.

Case studies are used to teach how knowledge is to be applied in real-world situations, and the consequences one could face while doing so. They are popularly used in higher education, especially in business schools, law schools, and medical schools.  In recent years, case studies have become a popular way to train corporate professionals too.

A Case Study is often lengthy addressing all the dimensions of the topic under study. It is high on facts , and is mostly supported with actual data and figures. Rarely does it include any exaggerated or extraneous content. In short, it is a detailed description of a situation with accompanying data to analyze. Typically, it will include the following elements:

• A description of a problem and its context
• A dilemma that is to be resolved, or a decision to be taken
• Supporting data – Data tables, exhibits, interviews, supporting documents and so on

On the other hand, a scenario is normally shorter than a Case Study. It is a fictionalized account of a situation set in realistic settings. The context and environment is the real-world workplace, but the situation could be made up. As in a Case Study, scenarios can pose a dilemma to be resolved by the learner, a decision to be taken or a problem to be solved. However, scenarios usually do not have too much data or information to be analyzed.  Typically, scenarios will include the following elements:

• A description of a problem and its context (real-world/workplace)
• A fictionalized account of a dilemma that is to be resolved, or a decision to be taken
• Supported by characters, dialogues and conversations

Stories are great way to learn. Especially, if you are addressing the affective domain. The high emotional content in stories ensures high learning impact. The emotional content is what makes a story different from a case study or a scenario. This is added by way of a plot, theme, dialogues or even characterization. This is why stories stay with people much longer than facts or statistics – the emotional content gives meaning and context to information. Typically, if you are teaching through stories, it should include the following elements:

• High emotional content
• Writing style is exaggerated for immersion and impact
• Presence of fictional elements is a must – plot/theme, characters, dialogues and context

So, when you are writing stories, writing case studies, or writing scenarios, keep these above points in mind.

Check out this free course sample to see how a story is weaved into learning material.

Identifying Content Types

• story-based learning; scenario-based learning; case studies; writing stories; writing case studies; writing scenarios; teaching through stories

2 responses on "Case Study, Scenario, Story: What's the Difference?"

Thank you, your explanation was concise, i understood in less than 30 seconds

Thank you for clarity on these topics. The comparison and differentiation helped my understanding.

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The Case Study Teaching Method

It is easy to get confused between the case study method and the case method , particularly as it applies to legal education. The case method in legal education was invented by Christopher Columbus Langdell, Dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1895. Langdell conceived of a way to systematize and simplify legal education by focusing on previous case law that furthered principles or doctrines. To that end, Langdell wrote the first casebook, entitled A Selection of Cases on the Law of Contracts , a collection of settled cases that would illuminate the current state of contract law. Students read the cases and came prepared to analyze them during Socratic question-and-answer sessions in class.

The Harvard Business School case study approach grew out of the Langdellian method. But instead of using established case law, business professors chose real-life examples from the business world to highlight and analyze business principles. HBS-style case studies typically consist of a short narrative (less than 25 pages), told from the point of view of a manager or business leader embroiled in a dilemma. Case studies provide readers with an overview of the main issue; background on the institution, industry, and individuals involved; and the events that led to the problem or decision at hand. Cases are based on interviews or public sources; sometimes, case studies are disguised versions of actual events or composites based on the faculty authors’ experience and knowledge of the subject. Cases are used to illustrate a particular set of learning objectives; as in real life, rarely are there precise answers to the dilemma at hand.

Our suite of free materials offers a great introduction to the case study method. We also offer review copies of our products free of charge to educators and staff at degree-granting institutions.

For more information on the case study teaching method, see:

• Martha Minow and Todd Rakoff: A Case for Another Case Method
• HLS Case Studies Blog: Legal Education’s 9 Big Ideas
• Teaching Units: Problem Solving , Advanced Problem Solving , Skills , Decision Making and Leadership , Professional Development for Law Firms , Professional Development for In-House Counsel
• Educator Community: Tips for Teachers

Watch this informative video about the Problem-Solving Workshop:

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Insight Learning: 10 Examples, Definition, Case Studies

Dave Cornell (PhD)

Dr. Cornell has worked in education for more than 20 years. His work has involved designing teacher certification for Trinity College in London and in-service training for state governments in the United States. He has trained kindergarten teachers in 8 countries and helped businessmen and women open baby centers and kindergartens in 3 countries.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

Insight learning is the sudden realization of a solution to a problem. It is the result of seeing the connection between variables in a situation that were not recognized previously.

Today, this is commonly referred to as the “A-ha” moment, often signified in emoji or image form by a lightbulb appearing over one’s head.

Examples of insight learning include coming to a realization when walking in the woods, coming to a sudden moment of clarity during an experiment, or overcoming a threshold concept in mathematics.

Insight Learning Definition and Properties

Wolfgang Köhler (1925; 1959) is the first modern scholar to identify insight learning during his studies with chimpanzees.

He was interested in studying their ability to problem solve and thus, presented them with various scenarios and observed their attempted solutions.

As quoted by Vonk et al. (2021),

“Köhler (1925/2019) defined insight as the awareness of functional relationships in a given situation and its rapid application to formulate a solution to the present situation” (p. 9).

According to Shettleworth (2012) insight learning has three general properties:

• Impasse: the solution emerges after an impasse of failed attempts and is not the result of methodical trial and error.
• Restructuring: the solution involves a restructuring of the problem in a novel way.
• A-Ha Moment: the solution appears suddenly, combined with a subjective “A-ha” experience.

Insight Learning Examples

• Not being able to generate a design solution for several days and then realizing the solution while on a walk through the woods.
• Being stuck in the composition of an original musical score and then hearing the missing notes while on the bus daydreaming.
• Not knowing which of 2 job offers to accept until a friend says something that makes the best option crystal clear.   
• Trying out different recipes that all seem to fail. Then taking a break for a few days before realizing the crucial missing ingredient.
• Being unable to figure out how to make the plot in your screenplay seem plausible until seeing the solution while washing your hair in the shower.
• Working on the budget for a demanding project and then suddenly figuring out several ways to be more cost-effective. 
• Not realizing your partner has been unfaithful until something your best friend says spawns a sudden moment of clarity.
• Trying to create a new line of code but being stuck on a bug until it comes to you when shooting hoops with friends several days later. 
• Team members going through a frustrating brainstorming session until finally someone says something that is wrong, but sparks another idea that will work.  
• Being able to generate 9 unique examples of insight learning, but getting stuck on #10 until closing the computer and going for a walk in the rain.

Case Studies and Research Basis

1. the mentality of apes (köhler, 1913).

In 1913, Wolfgang Köhler became the director of a research station in the Canary Islands. At that time in science, there was considerable debate as to whether animals were capable of intelligent problem solving, or just able to solve problems haphazardly or as a result of conditioning.   

Köhler presented various animals with a series of problems (fetching a fruit) that could only be resolved by overcoming an obstacle.

Time and time again, Köhler referred to a time delay between early failed attempts at solving the problem, and the eventual solution being found.

“After many failures, [Tschego] finally sits down quietly. But her eyes wander and soon fix on the little tree, which she had left lying a little way behind her, and all of a sudden, she seizes it quickly and surely, breaks off a branch, and immediately pulls the objective to her with it.” (Köhler, 1925, pp. 111–112)

The time delay is considered a key property of insight learning.

2. Darwin’s Thinking Path (Darwin, 1859)

Darwin is considered to be one of the greatest theorists in history. He developed insights into human evolution that still impact our thinking today. Darwin was as an avid walker and developed many aspects of his greatest insights while walking down his trail.

As Jeremy DeSilva explains:

“Darwin’s best thinking, however, was not done in his study. It was done outside, on a lowercase d –shaped path on the edge of his property. Darwin called it the Sandwalk. Today, it is known as Darwin’s thinking path.”

Walking clears the mind…lets it wander freely…and often leads to insights that would have never occurred if sitting at a desk under fluorescent lights.

Darwin’s often misunderstood survival of the fittest is illustrated in this quote:

“…those individuals whose functions are most out of equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces, will be those to die; and that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces.” (Darwin, 1859, p. 444)

3. Animal Insights (Goodall, 1990)

Before being offended, consider the problem presented to crows in the above video. Do you think you could solve it? Of course you could, and probably much faster than a crow. The purpose of this thought experiment, however, is to highlight the issue of what separates people from animals.

The more research conducted is in comparative psychology , the more difficult it becomes to define human beings in a way that completely precludes animals.

Over the years there have been many concepts proposed to distinguish humans from animals: social dynamics, communication, cooperative problem-solving , tool use, and…insight learning.

Each distinction has so far failed to pass the test of time.

As Jane Goodall (1990) states, a

“succession of experiments that, taken together, clearly prove that many intellectual abilities that had been thought unique to humans were actually present, though in a less highly developed form, in other, non-human beings” (p. 18).

The behaviorists saw the “A-ha” moment observed in animal problem-solving as a result of accumulated stimulus-response associations.

However, Wolfgang Köhler’s experiments led him to the conclusion that the chimpanzees and apes in his studies were engaged in cognitive processing. In fact, his characterizations of their problem-solving abilities would fit our definition today of insight learning.

4. Insight Discovery (Pearce et al., 2022)

As the world becomes more interconnected, cross-cultural dynamics and shared challenges become more prevalent. Therefore, conventional approaches and mindsets to multi-faceted issues and problem-solving are becoming less applicable.

Pearce et al. (2022) suggest that “particular expertise that can identify new connections between diverse knowledge fields is needed in order to integrate diverse perspectives…and develop novel solutions” (p. 1).

“Traditionally, institutions of higher education have been organized around providing students with the competences to succeed in individual disciplines rather than to have the capacity to solve problems in the real world” (p. 8).

The authors introduce an “insight discovery process” (IDP) as a path of breaking conventional mindsets and integrating more varied perspectives.

Over a 4-year period, a Transdisciplinary Lab (TdLab) was designed to tackle environmental issues. The program took place in Wislikofen Switzerland and included master’s students, Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral researchers from 13 countries.

The researchers conclude that IDP can play a role in addressing sustainability and climate change, provided a means for “transformative learning,” and facilitates transdisciplinary collaboration.

Insight learning occurs after a delay in failed problem-solving attempts. The solution appears suddenly and is often referred to as an “A-ha” moment.

Although there are specific conditions for a solution to qualify as insight learning, the meaning of the term is sometimes defined more flexibly.

Researchers in non-Western countries may have slightly different definitions of the term. Others have devised unique educational programs with the goal of generating transdisciplinary perspectives on today’s most pressing challenges.

Insight learning also has an interesting history of debate among researchers in comparative psychology.

Some of the field’s greatest minds, including Edward Thorndike, Jane Goodall, and Wolfgang Köhler, conducted experiments and observations to better understand the nuances of both animal and human problem-solving.

Danek, A. H., Fraps, T., von Müller, A., Grothe, B., & Öllinger, M. (2014). It’s a kind of magic: What self-reports can reveal about the phenomenology of insight problem solving. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 , 1408. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01408

Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Goodall, J. (1990). Through a window . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Köhler, W. (1925/1959). The mentality of apes. (E. Winter, Trans.). New York, USA: Vintage Books.

Pearce, B.J., Deutsch, L., Fry, P., Marafatto, F. F., & Lieu, J. (2022) . Going beyond the AHA! moment: insight discovery for transdisciplinary research and learning. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 9, 123. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01129-0

Povinelli, D., & Bering, J. (2002). The mentality of apes revisited. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11 , 115-119. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00181

Sahriana, N., Suminar, T., & Pranoto, Y. K. S. (2020). Development of maritime insight learning tools for ocean literacy in children aged 5-6 years old. Journal of Primary Education , 9 (5), 536-545.

Shettleworth, S. J. (2012). Do animals have insight, and what is insight anyway? Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale, 66 (4), 217–226.

Thorpe, W. H. (1943). A type of insight learning in birds. British Birds , 37 , 29-31.

Vonk, J., Vincent, J., & O’Connor, V. (2021). It’s hard to be social alone: Cognitive complexity as transfer within and across domains. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 16 , 1-35. https://doi.org/10.3819/CCBR.2021.160003

• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 23 Achieved Status Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 25 Defense Mechanisms Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 15 Theory of Planned Behavior Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 18 Adaptive Behavior Examples

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 23 Achieved Status Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Ableism Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 25 Defense Mechanisms Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Theory of Planned Behavior Examples

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• Open access
• Published: 15 July 2024

Based case based learning and flipped classroom as a means to improve international students’ active learning and critical thinking ability

• Wanjing Yang 1 ,
• Xiaoyan Zhang 1 ,
• Xinhuan Chen 1 ,
• Jing Lu 1 &
• Fang Tian 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  759 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Metrics details

International student education has become an important part of higher education and an important symbol to measure the level of higher education. To change the traditional teaching model, here we introduced a combination of Case-Based Learning (CBL)and Flipped Classroom (FC) into the pathophysiology course for international students. This study aimed to explore whether the active learning ability and critical thinking ability of international students can be improved, based on this new teaching model, improving the innovation ability of teachers’ team and students’ attitude to the reform.

The two chapters of Cardiac Insufficiency and Apoptosis in Pathophysiology are designed as a CBL + FC teaching method. Distribute the Self-assessment Scale on Active Learning and Critical Thinking (SSACT) and satisfaction questionnaire to international students to evaluate teaching reform based on CBL + FC.

Compared with the traditional classroom, the online flipped classroom based on CBL has significantly improved the learning enthusiasm, as these students are required to independently complete literature review, actively participate in classroom teaching, learn to use multiple learning strategies, and collaborate with other students to complete PowerPoint (PPT)production. At the same time, the students’ ability to raise problems and solve problems has been greatly improved by analyzing clinical cases; By consulting the literature, the theoretical knowledge learned can be better applied to clinical analysis. The results of the satisfaction survey also show that international students are more likely to accept the flipped classroom teaching mode.

Conclusions

This teaching mode will stimulate the learning motivation of international students, enhance teaching attraction and increase teaching interaction; At the same time, the CBL + FC teaching method can strengthen the evaluation of international students’ in and out of class and online learning, enhance students’ active learning ability and critical thinking ability, promote the development of personalized learning, and integrate with international medical education.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

At the beginning of the new-year in 2020, the epidemic caused by covid-19 is a major global public health event. Among the people affected by these restrictions, there is a special group of international students who come to China’s colleges and universities to study abroad [ 1 ]. Through the practice of teaching and management of international students for many years, research shows a clear understanding of the characteristics of the group of international students, such as: (1) most of the group of international students come from Asian countries, with great regional cultural differences; (2) The basic education level and development level of each country are different, and the acceptance ability also varies greatly; (3) The vast majority of international students like to participate, like to communicate with teachers, interactive learning and group discussion teaching [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Therefore, according to the characteristics of international students, how to change the traditional teaching mode of Pathophysiology for international medical students online with the single output of teachers, insufficient learning initiative of international students, paying attention to the deep integration of modern information technology and education and teaching, enhancing the interaction between teachers and students, students and students, has become an urgent problem to solve.

Active learning and continuous quality improvement are critical strategies when designing and refining medical school curricula [ 5 , 6 ]. Some studies showed that medical educators, both at our institution and nationwide, are deliberately re-evaluating their curricula to incorporate active learning instructional methodology [ 5 , 7 ]. In the study of Rose et al. showed that active learning, with regular incorporation of student feedback vis-àvis a PDSA cycle, was effective in achieving high student engagement in an Internal Medicine core clerkship session on antibiotic therapy. The study findings have potential implications for medical education and suggest that the application of the PDSA cycle can optimize active learning pedagogies and outcomes [ 8 ].

Critical thinking (CT) plays a central role in one’s learning and working, particularly in addition to medical education that transitions from knowledge-based curricula to competency-based curricula. It is crucial for students to learn and work further critically to evaluate existing knowledge and information. CT is vital to a health professional’s competence to assess, diagnose and care for patients correctly and effectively [ 9 ]. Studies by Ramlaul et al. indicated that as participants progressed from year one to year three, they recognized that critical thinking comprised not only of cognitive skills but affective skills too. They attributed their developing understanding of the meaning of critical thinking to clinical placement learning, understanding written feedback, and the expectations of professional practice [ 10 ]. Several other studies also revealed the relationship between critical thinking and academic success of medical professionals, such as a students’ PBL performance, health professions education and the motivation for learning [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].

Blended learning is a comprehensive and three-dimensional teaching mode that integrates various means such as offline teaching, online learning resources utilization, and mutual evaluation and feedback between students and teachers and students. Therefore, in the course of curriculum construction, it is necessary to promote and popularize this teaching method on a large scale, so that all teachers and students can actively participate in an efficient operation of “teaching” and “learning”. The teacher will change from the leading role in the traditional classroom to the supporting role in the blended learning mode, becoming the leader and supervisor, while the students will change from the traditional supporting role to the leading role, becoming the center and active element of the teaching link. Through the implementation of mixed teaching, students can be trained to learn actively, and the former “I want to learn” has become the current “I want to learn” situation. In the mixed teaching mode, teachers have changed the traditional way of teaching students “what is” into heuristic teaching of teaching students “why”, and gradually cultivate students to develop critical thinking methods such as raising questions, solving problems, and questioning, thus greatly improving the efficiency of teaching and learning. Many classes in higher education institutes now employ blended learning; whereby students learn in part at a supervised face-to-face location on campus, and in part through the Internet with some elements of student choice over place and pace [ 15 ]. Of the many different models of blended learning in practice, the use of flipped classroom approach has become increasingly widespread [ 16 , 17 , 18 ].

More and more studies show that compared with traditional teaching methods, the teaching effect of flipped classroom does have certain advantages [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. In addition, with the progress of COVID-19, the research of online flipped classroom has also made some progress. Hew et al. showed that the participants in the fully online flipped classes performed as effectively as participants in the conventional flipped learning classes. Their qualitative analyses of student and staff reflection data identify seven good practices for videoconferencing - assisted online flipped classrooms [ 22 ]. Students in flipped courses exhibited gains in critical thinking, with the largest objective gains in intermediate and upper-level courses. Results from this study suggest that implementing active-learning strategies in the flipped classroom may benefit critical thinking and provide initial evidence suggesting that underrepresented and first-year students may experience a greater benefit [ 23 ].

CBL is an established approach used across disciplines where students apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios, promoting higher levels of cognition. Thus the objective of this study is to explore whether the active learning ability and critical thinking ability of international students can be improved by applying the innovation ability of teachers’ team, updating teaching ideas, and using the reform of CBL + FC teaching mode, so as to lay a foundation for building a first-class course of Pathophysiology for international students.

Materials and methods

Research object.

The study was conducted at the school of international education from 2021 to 2022, Zhengzhou University, which employs CBL + FC in the third grade international students (there are 296 students in total), majors include clinical medicine, pharmacy and stomatology. They were divided into two groups: 115 students majoring in clinical medicine participated in online flipped classrooms, while 181 students majoring in pharmacy and stomatology participated in traditional classrooms.

The same teaching faculty is responsible for the teaching process. Oral informed consent was obtained from each student and teacher. This study was approved by the school ethics committee (Zhengzhou University Life Sciences Ethics Review Committee).

Curriculum implementation plan and method

The two chapters of Cardiac Insufficiency and Apoptosis are designed as a CBL + flipped classroom teaching method, specific implementation process: A case is divided into multiple scenarios (parts) and send to students one week before class. Students summarize the symptoms and signs of the patient from the case, propose possible diagnosis, discuss the mechanism and raise questions. It is important to ask questions from the case. These questions can be solved by searching online in time during discussion, while the deeper questions can be recorded and assigned to each student. Later, students can acquire knowledge and independence through self-study methods, such as reading books, checking materials and MOOC study. The team leader will summarize and refine the questions raised by each group member, and 4–5 students make them into PPT (6–7 min), and reported in the class; the team leaders can communicate with each other to avoid solving the same problems, and each group should have its own focus. At last, teachers conduct in-depth analysis of the case, and make a general comment on the contents of each reporting group, especially to find out the highlights and innovations of students in the reporting process, and timely encourage and praise them.

Effect evaluation

the establishment and implementation of teaching information collection system, international students’ teaching evaluation system and information feedback system is not only an important teaching management measure, but also a way to mobilize students’ enthusiasm and give full play to their personality. At the same time, a questionnaire is designed to evaluate whether the teaching reform based on Case + flipped classroom can improve the autonomous learning ability and critical thinking ability of international students and whether they are satisfied with this teaching method.

Limitations and design

When conducting intervention studies on international students, it is crucial to ensure the consistency of the baseline conditions as much as possible to reduce bias. Of course, there are also some confounding factors that can affect the experimental results, such as:

1) International students from different countries may have different study habits or personalities;

2) The academic performance of international students upon admission varies;

3) International students may have a stronger sense of self-awareness.

In response to these factors, the following measures have been taken:

1) To reduce the impact of these differences on the results, researchers randomly assigned international students from different countries and majors into two groups, rather than grouping them by country or major;

2) The educational reform was placed in the sixth semester, at which point international students have generally adapted to the teaching methods in China and their academic performance is relatively stable, so this educational reform mainly focused on the students’ learning attitudes rather than solely on their grades;

3) Given the strong sense of autonomy among international students, their own choices were fully respected on the premise of random grouping. At the same time, the impact was reduced through the use of anonymous surveys and ensuring privacy protection.

Instruments for Self-assessment Scale on Active Learning and Critical Thinking (SSACT) and satisfaction questionnaire disposition assessment

The 14 item SSACT consisted of two domains “active learning” and “critical thinking” [ 24 , 25 ]. A five-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to evaluate student before and after class, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) (Table  1 ).

A five-point Likert scale Satisfaction questionnaire with 17 items was used to evaluate student perceptions of the effectiveness of CBL + Fipped classroom when we finished the class, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) [ 26 ].

Students were allowed to finish the questionnaire via an internet website,

where the data were collected from their submission. There are 296 students in total, 278 of them took part in the survey. In addition,106 students participated in the online flipped classroom and 172 students participated in the traditional classroom.

Statistical analysis

SPSS software is used to analyze the scores of students’ creative thinking evaluation, critical thinking evaluation and satisfaction evaluation of online flipped classroom. The measurement data are expressed by means and standard deviation, T-test was used to statistically infer students’ creative thinking and critical thinking ability.

1. In terms of students’ active learning, compared with the traditional classroom, the online flipped classroom has improved the basic learning enthusiasm (Fig.  1 ), especially in promoting the use of multiple learning strategies in autonomous learning (4.29 ± 0.74, p  < 0.05), managed independent study effectively(4.23 ± 0.86, p  < 0.05), encouraging other members to assist in learning (3.95 ± 1.01, p  < 0.05), and reflected on the learning in each scenario based on the objectives (4.22 ± 0.86, p  < 0.05). However, some students showed deficiencies in summarizing the key points of the outcome of the group discussion (Table  2 ).

The comparison of active learning between online flipped classroom and traditional classroom. Notes * p  < 0.05

2. In terms of students’ critical thinking, compared with the traditional classroom, the online flipped classroom has improved students’ critical thinking ability (Fig.  2 ), and several of them have improved significantly (Table  3 ): I analyzed information in the scenario using relevant theory and concepts (4.2 ± 0.74; p  < 0.005), I could generate a discussion to explain the problem under discussion (4.05 ± 0.87; p  < 0.005), I communicated my ideas clearly. (4.02 ± 0.94; p  < 0.05), In the second meeting, I applied knowledge from my independent study to provide a solution to the problem being discussed(4.05 ± 0.84; p  < 0.05).

Comparison between online flipped classroom and traditional classroom in critical thinking. Notes * p  < 0.05, ** p  < 0.005

3. In terms of satisfaction survey, we sent out questionnaires to students to find out whether they are satisfied with the online flipping class. The overall questionnaire adopts a five-level scoring system, and the answer options are scored from low to high as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, which are very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, general, satisfied, and very satisfied (Table  4 ). 105 questionnaires were collected. Among them, the overall satisfaction of students is 3.96 on average, and the rate of very satisfied or satisfied with the online flipped classroom teaching is 75.6%, and the answer value of each item is also high. The score of online flipped classroom encouraging students to learn more about the conditions discussed through cases is 4.11, and the score of 4.13 in more chapters that hope this teaching method will be used is the highest, It shows that learners are relatively satisfied with the online flipped classroom teaching mode and affirm the possibility of continuous development. In addition, many students think that the online flipping class plays a great role in improving self-learning ability, analysis ability and learning interest. At the same time, students are also satisfied with the design of the case, the knowledge covered by the case and the organization of the course.

In the teaching process of international students, the vast majority of international students show the characteristics of publicity and participation. Many teachers find that international students don’t like traditional teaching methods. They like to communicate and interact with teachers in class. Group discussion and other forms of teaching are also preferred by students. They believe that this can show students’ own learning ability and level. In addition, they have a strong desire to complete their studies and get a degree. Therefore, in the teaching process, we should reasonably mobilize and give full play to the positive factors and personality publicity characteristics of international students in learning, promote teaching reform, and promote students’ participation in the teaching process.

At present, the education of international students has become an important part of higher education. Most international students choose to return to work after graduation and need to take the local medical practitioner examination. However, the curriculum and teaching management mode of our school mostly follow Chinese standards and characteristics, and there is a certain disconnect with international medical standards, which makes it difficult for international students to adapt to the domestic examination mode in a short time after graduation, and often requires a lot of energy and time to prepare for the examination. The growth and success of overseas students in China has become an important way for the world to know and understand China, and is of great positive significance in establishing China’s international image and enhancing the friendship between the Chinese people and the people of all countries in the world. Therefore, we must actively reform the curriculum construction of international medical students in China to realize the international integration of international student education.

Flipped classroom (FC) refers to a teaching mode that flips the traditional classroom teaching (TC), through the use of advanced information technology, students learn by themselves through online videos recorded by teachers and learning requirements before class, so that students can complete the learning of knowledge before class, solve problems through teachers’ guidance, discussion and communication in class, promote the internalization of knowledge, and complete the evaluation of learning results and knowledge improvement after class.

In Morton DA et al. research, they wanted to determine whether FC instruction is superior to TC instruction for learning gross anatomy. The results showed that students in an FC setting may perform better than those in a TC on assessments requiring higher cognition (e.g., analysis), but the same on those requiring lower cognition (e.g., memorization and recall) [ 27 ]. To compare the effects of Flipped Classroom vs. Traditional Classroom on students’ academic achievement, task value, and achievement emotions, O’Connor EE et al. proved that the positive emotional effects of FC on medical students’ motivational beliefs and achievement emotions can enhance academic performance. The FC approach provides medical students with the opportunity to develop self-directed learning skills while also providing opportunities to solidify already acquired knowledge and concepts through active learning strategies [ 28 ]. At last, in the research of Kraut et al. a total of 54 papers (33 quantitative, four qualitative, and 17 review) on FC met a priori criteria for inclusion and were critically appraised and reviewed. The top 10 highest scoring articles (five quantitative studies, two qualitative studies, and three review papers) are summarized in this article. Their results confirmed that (1) A Flipped Classroom or Blended Learning Approach is Effective for Procedural Learning; (2) Students in a Flipped Classroom Setting May Learn More Than Students in a Traditional Classroom Setting; (3) The Flipped Classroom Model is Beneficial for Learning Higher Cognition Tasks; (4) Learners Are More Engaged with Flipped Classroom, but Satisfaction Depends Largely on Teacher Prep Work [ 29 ].Therefore, flipped classroom can improve the purpose of teachers’ teaching, endow international students with autonomy in learning, and enhance the teaching effect. It has become a new concept and teaching mode of international students’ education and teaching in the stimulating the learning motivation and professional interest of international students, enrich teaching means, enhance teaching attraction, and increase teaching interaction; At the same time, by strengthening the evaluation of in class and online learning of international students, we can increase their active learning ability, promote personalized learning, improve their autonomous learning ability and critical thinking ability, promote the development of pathophysiology course, and integrate with international medical education.

Several studies showed that flipped classroom combined with case-based learning is an effective teaching modality in nephrology clerkship and other medical class [ 30 , 31 ]. Cai et al. also proved that CBL-based FC modality has promising effects on undergraduate pathology education and may be a better choice than traditional LBC. Further optimizations are needed to implement this novel approach in pathology and other medicine curricula [ 32 ]. Various evidence-based and student-centered strategies such as Team-Based Learning (TBL), Case-Based Learning (CBL), and Flipped Classroom (FC) have been recently applied to anatomy education and have shown to improve student engagement and interaction [ 33 , 34 ].

The advisability of early contact with clinical knowledge has been accepted by the world. There is no better teacher than “interest”. Let medical students contact clinical knowledge as early as possible, and closely combine book knowledge with clinical knowledge, which will improve students’ learning enthusiasm and cultivate good habits: active learning, autonomous learning, combined with clinical practice, so that students can give play to their subjective initiative.

Pathophysiology, as a bridge discipline between basic medicine and clinical medicine, plays a connecting role in medical education. Through the study of pathophysiology, students are trained to understand and deal with the scientific thinking methods of diseases, grasp the leading links and development trends of diseases, correctly use the knowledge and theory of pathophysiology, understand the essence of diseases from the outside to the inside, analyze and discuss the causes, mechanisms, functional metabolic changes and prevention and treatment principles of diseases, so as to cultivate students’ independent active learning ability, critical thinking ability and clinical thinking ability. Therefore, we adopt the teaching mode of “CBL + FC” in the teaching process. It is hoped that through the reform of this teaching mode, the autonomous learning ability and critical thinking ability of international students will be improved, and the learning of clinical cases will be used to realize the cultivation of early clinical thinking.

The results of this study show that compared with the traditional classroom, the online flipped classroom based on CBL has significantly improved the learning enthusiasm and enthusiasm of international students. Through independent literature review, PPT production, active participation in classroom teaching, learning to use a variety of learning strategies, and cooperation with other students. At the same time, the students’ ability to raise problems and solve problems has been greatly improved by analyzing clinical cases; By consulting the literature, the theoretical knowledge learned can be better applied to clinical analysis. The results of the satisfaction survey also show that international students are more likely to accept the flipped classroom teaching mode. Therefore, in view of the characteristics and needs of the international students in our university, the teaching reform of Pathophysiology adopts CBL + FC, focusing on stimulating the learning motivation and professional interests of the international students. By strengthening the evaluation of the internal and external and online learning of the international students, we can increase the independent learning ability, improve the critical thinking ability and promote personalized learning, which will be conducive to the development of the Pathophysiology course and integrate with international medical education.

This study had some limitations. Firstly, the international students’ sample size was limited, which might impact on the power of these results. Secondly, due to the impact of the epidemic, flipped classes cannot be carried out offline and face-to-face with students, which will also affect the effect of teaching reform. However, the overall effectiveness of CBL + FC can be enhanced by leveraging the unique characteristics of international students and promoting their enthusiasm for learning. Continuous evaluation and adaptation of teaching strategies are essential to ensure that all students benefit from the learning process and that the educational needs of international students are met effectively.

Through the training of this project, the students will not only have solid basic theoretical knowledge, but also have good communication ability and preliminary clinical thinking ability.

Data availability

Datasets generated or analyzed in this study are included in this published article. The Stata raw dataset can be provided on request. The corresponding author, Fang Tian, will provide additional data, if requested.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all colleagues and students who participated in this study.

Research and practice project of education and teaching reform of Zhengzhou University(special education for international students 2021ZZUJG XM-LXS004; 2022ZZUJGXM-LXS016; 2023ZZUJGXM-LXS023). Henan Medical Education Research Project (Wjlx2020355; Wjlx2021002)

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Wanjing Yang, Xiaoyan Zhang, Xinhuan Chen, Jing Lu & Fang Tian

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TF: Conceptualization; Writing original manuscript; Design of the study; Y-WJ and Z-XY: Data acquisition; Statistical analysis; Data interpretation; C-XH and LJ: Study Statistical analysis; Prepared the figures and tables; All the authors contributed to manuscript revision, read and approved the final submitted version.

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Yang, W., Zhang, X., Chen, X. et al. Based case based learning and flipped classroom as a means to improve international students’ active learning and critical thinking ability. BMC Med Educ 24 , 759 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05758-8

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The Charity Project: connecting research, volunteering and assessment

Dr Miles Tufft, Faculty of Brain Sciences, and Molly McCabe, Students' Union UCL, collaborated to bring psychology students and the voluntary sector together through education.

19 July 2024

In 2024,  Students' Union UCL and the BSc Psychology Programme collaborated to bring first year undergradate psychology students and the voluntary sector under one roof, in the largest education and volunteering collaboration ever. 

Introduction To Psychological Experimentation (PSYC0005) is a core undergraduate psychology module which brings a research- embedded approach to year one research methods training.

Only got 2 minutes? Jump to top tips for  connecting the voluntary and community sector to education

The Charity Project

For their final assignment, The Charity Project, students are asked to conduct their own primary research to help answer the question, “What psychological factors affect peoples’ decision to donate to charity ?” .

In small teams, they generate testable hypotheses, design and build novel experimental paradigms, collect their own quantitative and qualitative research data, and then present their insights in the form of academic posters during a student-led poster conference at the end of term.

Sharing insights with real-world organisations

This year, the course convenor, Dr Miles Tufft , wanted to push the approach further by adding an enterprise component which allows students to share their insights with real-world organisations. To achieve this, he connected with Molly McCabe, the Community Research Initiative Manager at the Student Union, and together they developed the idea to expand the poster conference into a Charity Knowledge Exchange.

This two-hour event, held in the main cloisters, saw voluntary sector leaders invited to learn about the psychological science behind charitable giving from student research. At the same time, the students had the opportunity to learn from the charities directly about the challenges such organisations encounter when fundraising.

The exchange involved a diverse set of representatives from six charity partners who spent time viewing the posters while engaging in conversations with the students about their research and sharing their own experiences on the realities of fundraising in the voluntary sector. Students were also able to take part in a dedicated Q&A panel during which they put questions to the charities, gaining insight and making connections between their research and the real world.

Empowering research skills making a real-world difference

On the day the excitement of the students was palpable. There were several eye-opening moments for the students as they learned about the realities of the voluntary sector from firsthand accounts. The students and organisations were able to draw connections between their work and share their knowledge as equals in the space.

For first-year students, who had only been at UCL for 2 terms, the event not only empowered them in their research skills but also allowed them to connect to grassroots leaders of their community and see the impact they can make.

Integrating enterprise into education

Miles was looking for innovative ways to integrate enterprise into undergraduate education supporting the development of key transferrable skills and inspiring real-world student-led impact. His search led him to the Community Research Initiative and just at a time when it was looking to expand its offerings to undergraduate students.

With inspiration from Miles, and the momentum of the initiative, we were able to quickly develop a plan to bring charities and students together.

Record-breaking education partnership 

Though there are different efforts at UCL to introduce students to community-university working, a partnership like this between the UCL Students’ Union and a UCL undergraduate programme has not happened and certainly not at this scale with PSYC0005 comprising over 130 undergraduate students.

The inspiration to connect our students with industry in an educational context comes from Miles’ drive to see more enterprise-led curricula. Not only do these interactions improve our students’ employability, but they also provide students with impactful and rewarding educational experiences. Events like the Charity Knowledge Exchange provide students with the confidence and inspiration that comes from seeing how their work can make a difference, while at the same time learning what matters to the real-world decision makers which may represent their future employers, colleagues, or collaborators.

How did this happen and what was involved?

Who was involved.

Molly McCabe, Community Research Initiative Manager, The UCL Students’ Union, Community Research Initiative.

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Charity Partners: The Mix, Black Woman Kindness Initiative, Centre 404, Literacy Pirates, Student-Led Projects UCLU

What was the timeline? 

Miles approached the Community Research Initiative in February 2024. The event took two months to put together, with Miles responsible for coordinating the event and Molly responsible for gathering the organisations. However, there was so much more that we wished we could have done and will definitely give ourselves more time next year.

Connecting with charity partners

After this initial meeting, Molly set out to contact a host of charity partners to see if there was interest in the project. Molly was also able to come to speak at a seminar session to give a bit of context about these organisations and to inspire the students’ research questions so that they could be as informative as possible for the charity organisations. Through a slurry of emails and coordinating between us, the event came to fruition.

Building on momentum for future 

After the success of this year we are hoping to explore ways to push this collaboration even further. We are discussing the potential for charity partners to come into the experience earlier, to share their challenges upfront, and to inspire students’ research before it is conducted. Such an approach would allow students to dip their toes into community partnered research and to grow the impact of the exchange on both sides. Moving beyond year one, we are also looking at ways of generating enterprise-led experiences across the BSc Psychology programme such that recognising the real-world impact UCL students can make is a consideration throughout their education.

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The research-embedded approach of PSYC0005 has been the fruition of a team effort over several years which culminated in a Team Provost Education Award in 2020 (Dr Katie Fisher, Dr Stephanie Lazzaro, Dr Miles Tufft, Prof Alastair McClelland, Prof Daniel Richardson). More recently, the course convenor, Dr Miles Tufft, has been working on strategies that support the integration of enterprise and knowledge exchange into the undergraduate curriculum. Miles believes that student-industry partnerships are an excellent way to develop a range of important transferrable skills that come from communicating science to non-academic audiences as well as offering the space to showcase the talent pool of UCL students. The Charity Project seemed an ideal opportunity to trial such an approach and once the collaboration with the Student Union was established the Charity Knowledge Exchange was born.

This collaboration also represents a new area of exploration for the Community Research Initiative, which typically works to connect Masters students with charities to co-design research. We were unsure how the students and charities would come together, especially as this was many students’ first time meeting a voluntary and community sector leader. However, we were delighted with the level of insight and knowledge exchange that took place on the day. The students experienced several “mic drop” moments when listening to the realities of the organisation leaders and how difficult the fundraising landscape can be. Moments like these took our programmes a step further and we are excited to continue to experiment with how we can expand on these successes next year.

Top tips for connecting the voluntary and community sector to education 

• Explore the Students’ Union as a partner: If you are looking to connect to the voluntary and community sector the Students’ Union can be a great place to start.
• Connect curriculum to the real world: Try to think beyond content of modules and hone in on how the knowledge, skills, and perspectives that your students are learning may connect to the real world around them. Consider this as part of the extended learning opportunities project. 
• Share what works with colleagues: if you have an exciting approach to community-university partnerships that is working share it with your colleagues, they may get inspired!
• Get excited about diverse forms of knowledge: start looking to the voluntary and community sector as a group of experts in their own experience, they have lots of knowledge to share with us and with students.
• Get experimental with experiential: experiential learning can be hit or miss but you don't know unless you try! We all have to work together to try to innovate meaningful experiences for our students inside and outside of the classroom.

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Despite challenging overall market conditions in 2023, continuing investments in frontier technologies promise substantial future growth in enterprise adoption. Generative AI (gen AI) has been a standout trend since 2022, with the extraordinary uptick in interest and investment in this technology unlocking innovative possibilities across interconnected trends such as robotics and immersive reality. While the macroeconomic environment with elevated interest rates has affected equity capital investment and hiring, underlying indicators—including optimism, innovation, and longer-term talent needs—reflect a positive long-term trajectory in the 15 technology trends we analyzed.

What’s new in this year’s analysis

This year, we reflected the shifts in the technology landscape with two changes on the list of trends: digital trust and cybersecurity (integrating what we had previously described as Web3 and trust architectures) and the future of robotics. Robotics technologies’ synergy with AI is paving the way for groundbreaking innovations and operational shifts across the economic and workforce landscapes. We also deployed a survey to measure adoption levels across trends.

These are among the findings in the latest McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook, in which the McKinsey Technology Council  identified the most significant technology trends unfolding today. This research is intended to help executives plan ahead by developing an understanding of potential use cases, sources of value, adoption drivers, and the critical skills needed to bring these opportunities to fruition.

Our analysis examines quantitative measures of interest, innovation, investment, and talent to gauge the momentum of each trend. Recognizing the long-term nature and interdependence of these trends, we also delve into the underlying technologies, uncertainties, and questions surrounding each trend. (For more about new developments in our research, please see the sidebar “What’s new in this year’s analysis”; for more about the research itself, please see the sidebar “Research methodology.”)

New and notable

The two trends that stood out in 2023 were gen AI and electrification and renewables. Gen AI has seen a spike of almost 700 percent in Google searches from 2022 to 2023, along with a notable jump in job postings and investments. The pace of technology innovation has been remarkable. Over the course of 2023 and 2024, the size of the prompts that large language models (LLMs) can process, known as “context windows,” spiked from 100,000 to two million tokens. This is roughly the difference between adding one research paper to a model prompt and adding about 20 novels to it. And the modalities that gen AI can process have continued to increase, from text summarization and image generation to advanced capabilities in video, images, audio, and text. This has catalyzed a surge in investments and innovation aimed at advancing more powerful and efficient computing systems. The large foundation models that power generative AI, such as LLMs, are being integrated into various enterprise software tools and are also being employed for diverse purposes such as powering customer-facing chatbots, generating ad campaigns, accelerating drug discovery, and more. We expect this expansion to continue, pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities. Senior leaders’ awareness of gen AI innovation has increased interest, investment, and innovation in AI technologies, such as robotics, which is a new addition to our trends analysis this year. Advancements in AI are ushering in a new era of more capable robots, spurring greater innovation and a wider range of deployments.

Research methodology

To assess the development of each technology trend, our team collected data on five tangible measures of activity: search engine queries, news publications, patents, research publications, and investment. For each measure, we used a defined set of data sources to find occurrences of keywords associated with each of the 15 trends, screened those occurrences for valid mentions of activity, and indexed the resulting numbers of mentions on a 0–1 scoring scale that is relative to the trends studied. The innovation score combines the patents and research scores; the interest score combines the news and search scores. (While we recognize that an interest score can be inflated by deliberate efforts to stimulate news and search activity, we believe that each score fairly reflects the extent of discussion and debate about a given trend.) Investment measures the flows of funding from the capital markets into companies linked with the trend.

Data sources for the scores include the following:

• Patents. Data on patent filings are sourced from Google Patents, where the data highlight the number of granted patents.
• Research. Data on research publications are sourced from Lens.
• News. Data on news publications are sourced from Factiva.
• Searches. Data on search engine queries are sourced from Google Trends.
• Investment. Data on private-market and public-market capital raises (venture capital and corporate and strategic M&A, including joint ventures), private equity (including buyouts and private investment in public equity), and public investments (including IPOs) are sourced from PitchBook.
• Talent demand. Number of job postings is sourced from McKinsey’s proprietary Organizational Data Platform, which stores licensed, de-identified data on professional profiles and job postings. Data are drawn primarily from English-speaking countries.

In addition, we updated the selection and definition of trends from last year’s report to reflect the evolution of technology trends:

• The future of robotics trend was added since last year’s publication.
• Data sources and keywords were updated. For data on the future of space technologies investments, we used research from McKinsey’s Aerospace & Defense Practice.

Finally, we used survey data to calculate the enterprise-wide adoption scores for each trend:

• Survey scope. The survey included approximately 1,000 respondents from 50 countries.
• Geographical coverage. Survey representation was balanced across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
• Company size. Size categories, based on annual revenue, included small companies ($10 million to $50 million), medium-size companies ($50 million to $1 billion), and large companies (greater than $1 billion).
• Respondent profile. The survey was targeted to senior-level professionals knowledgeable in technology, who reported their perception of the extent to which their organizations were using the technologies.
• Survey method. The survey was conducted online to enhance reach and accessibility.
• Question types. The survey employed multiple-choice and open-ended questions for comprehensive insights.
• 1: Frontier innovation. This technology is still nascent, with few organizations investing in or applying it. It is largely untested and unproven in a business context.
• 2: Experimentation. Organizations are testing the functionality and viability of the technology with a small-scale prototype, typically done without a strong focus on a near-term ROI. Few companies are scaling or have fully scaled the technology.
• 3: Piloting. Organizations are implementing the technology for the first few business use cases. It may be used in pilot projects or limited deployments to test its feasibility and effectiveness.
• 4: Scaling. Organizations are in the process of scaling the deployment and adoption of the technology across the enterprise. The technology is being scaled by a significant number of companies.
• 5: Fully scaled. Organizations have fully deployed and integrated the technology across the enterprise. It has become the standard and is being used at a large scale as companies have recognized the value and benefits of the technology.

Electrification and renewables was the other trend that bucked the economic headwinds, posting the highest investment and interest scores among all the trends we evaluated. Job postings for this sector also showed a modest increase.

Although many trends faced declines in investment and hiring in 2023, the long-term outlook remains positive. This optimism is supported by the continued longer-term growth in job postings for the analyzed trends (up 8 percent from 2021 to 2023) and enterprises’ continued innovation and heightened interest in harnessing these technologies, particularly for future growth.

Future frontiers: Navigating the next wave of tech innovations

Join Lareina Yee and Roger Roberts on Tuesday, July 30, at 12:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CET as they discuss the future of these technological trends, the factors that will fuel their growth, and strategies for investing in them through 2024 and beyond.

In 2023, technology equity investments fell by 30 to 40 percent to approximately $570 billion due to rising financing costs and a cautious near-term growth outlook, prompting investors to favor technologies with strong revenue and margin potential. This approach aligns with the strategic perspective leading companies are adopting, in which they recognize that fully adopting and scaling cutting-edge technologies is a long-term endeavor. This recognition is evident when companies diversify their investments across a portfolio of several technologies, selectively intensifying their focus on areas most likely to push technological boundaries forward. While many technologies have maintained cautious investment profiles over the past year, gen AI saw a sevenfold increase in investments, driven by substantial advancements in text, image, and video generation.

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Despite an overall downturn in private equity investment, the pace of innovation has not slowed. Innovation has accelerated in the three trends that are part of the “AI revolution” group: gen AI, applied AI, and industrializing machine learning. Gen AI creates new content from unstructured data (such as text and images), applied AI leverages machine learning models for analytical and predictive tasks, and industrializing machine learning accelerates and derisks the development of machine learning solutions. Applied AI and industrializing machine learning, boosted by the widening interest in gen AI, have seen the most significant uptick in innovation, reflected in the surge in publications and patents from 2022 to 2023. Meanwhile, electrification and renewable-energy technologies continue to capture high interest, reflected in news mentions and web searches. Their popularity is fueled by a surge in global renewable capacity, their crucial roles in global decarbonization efforts, and heightened energy security needs amid geopolitical tensions and energy crises.

The talent environment largely echoed the investment picture in tech trends in 2023. The technology sector faced significant layoffs, particularly among large technology companies, with job postings related to the tech trends we studied declining by 26 percent—a steeper drop than the 17 percent decrease in global job postings overall. The greater decline in demand for tech-trends-related talent may have been fueled by technology companies’ cost reduction efforts amid decreasing revenue growth projections. Despite this reduction, the trends with robust investment and innovation, such as gen AI, not only maintained but also increased their job postings, reflecting a strong demand for new and advanced skills. Electrification and renewables was the other trend that saw positive job growth, partially due to public sector support for infrastructure spending.

Even with the short-term vicissitudes in talent demand, our analysis of 4.3 million job postings across our 15 tech trends underscored a wide skills gap. Compared with the global average, fewer than half the number of potential candidates have the high-demand tech skills specified in job postings. Despite the year-on-year decreases for job postings in many trends from 2022 to 2023, the number of tech-related job postings in 2023 still represented an 8 percent increase from 2021, suggesting the potential for longer-term growth (Exhibit 1).

Enterprise technology adoption momentum

The trajectory of enterprise technology adoption is often described as an S-curve that traces the following pattern: technical innovation and exploration, experimenting with the technology, initial pilots in the business, scaling the impact throughout the business, and eventual fully scaled adoption (Exhibit 2). This pattern is evident in this year’s survey analysis of enterprise adoption conducted across our 15 technologies. Adoption levels vary across different industries and company sizes, as does the perceived progress toward adoption.

Image description:

A graph depicts the adoption curve of technology trends, scored from 1 to 5, where 1 represents frontier innovation, located at the bottom left corner of the curve; 2 is experimenting, located slightly above frontier innovation; 3 is piloting, which follows the upward trajectory of the curve; 4 is scaling, marked by a vertical ascent as adoption increases; and 5 is fully scaled, positioned at the top of the curve, indicating near-complete adoption.

In 2023, the trends are positioned along the adoption curve as follows: future of space technologies and quantum technologies are at the frontier innovation stage; climate technologies beyond electrification and renewables, future of bioengineering, future of mobility, future of robotics, and immersive-reality technologies are at the experimenting stage; digital trust and cybersecurity, electrification and renewables, industrializing machine learning, and next-gen software development are at the piloting stage; and advanced connectivity, applied AI, cloud and edge computing, and generative AI are at the scaling stage.

Footnote: Trend is more relevant to certain industries, resulting in lower overall adoption across industries compared with adoption within relevant industries.

Source: McKinsey technology adoption survey data

End of image description.

We see that the technologies in the S-curve’s early stages of innovation and experimenting are either on the leading edge of progress, such as quantum technologies and robotics, or are more relevant to a specific set of industries, such as bioengineering and space. Factors that could affect the adoption of these technologies include high costs, specialized applications, and balancing the breadth of technology investments against focusing on a select few that may offer substantial first-mover advantages.

As technologies gain traction and move beyond experimenting, adoption rates start accelerating, and companies invest more in piloting and scaling. We see this shift in a number of trends, such as next-generation software development and electrification. Gen AI’s rapid advancement leads among trends analyzed, about a quarter of respondents self-reporting that they are scaling its use. More mature technologies, like cloud and edge computing and advanced connectivity, continued their rapid pace of adoption, serving as enablers for the adoption of other emerging technologies as well (Exhibit 3).

A segmented bar graph shows the adoption levels of tech trends in 2023 as a percentage of respondents. The trends are divided into 5 segments, comprising 100%: fully scaled, scaling, piloting, experimenting, and not investing. The trends are arranged based on the combined percentage sum of fully scaled and scaling shares. Listed from highest to lowest, these combined percentages are as follows:

• cloud and edge computing at 48%
• advanced connectivity at 37%
• generative AI at 36%
• applied AI at 35%
• next-generation software development at 31%
• digital trust and cybersecurity at 30%
• electrification and renewables at 28%
• industrializing machine learning at 27%
• future of mobility at 21%
• climate technologies beyond electrification and renewables at 20%
• immersive-reality technologies at 19%
• future of bioengineering at 18%
• future of robotics at 18%
• quantum technologies at 15%
• future of space technologies at 15%

The process of scaling technology adoption also requires a conducive external ecosystem where user trust and readiness, business model economics, regulatory environments, and talent availability play crucial roles. Since these ecosystem factors vary by geography and industry, we see different adoption scenarios playing out. For instance, while the leading banks in Latin America are on par with their North American counterparts in deploying gen AI use cases, the adoption of robotics in manufacturing sectors varies significantly due to differing labor costs affecting the business case for automation.

As executives navigate these complexities, they should align their long-term technology adoption strategies with both their internal capacities and the external ecosystem conditions to ensure the successful integration of new technologies into their business models. Executives should monitor ecosystem conditions that can affect their prioritized use cases to make decisions about the appropriate investment levels while navigating uncertainties and budgetary constraints on the way to full adoption (see the “Adoption developments across the globe” sections within each trend or particular use cases therein that executives should monitor). Across the board, leaders who take a long-term view—building up their talent, testing and learning where impact can be found, and reimagining the businesses for the future—can potentially break out ahead of the pack.

Lareina Yee is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Bay Area office, where Michael Chui  is a McKinsey Global Institute partner, Roger Roberts  is a partner, and Mena Issler is an associate partner.

The authors wish to thank the following McKinsey colleagues for their contributions to this research: Aakanksha Srinivasan, Ahsan Saeed, Alex Arutyunyants, Alex Singla, Alex Zhang, Alizee Acket-Goemaere, An Yan, Anass Bensrhir, Andrea Del Miglio, Andreas Breiter, Ani Kelkar, Anna Massey, Anna Orthofer, Arjit Mehta, Arjita Bhan, Asaf Somekh, Begum Ortaoglu, Benjamin Braverman, Bharat Bahl, Bharath Aiyer, Bhargs Srivathsan, Brian Constantine, Brooke Stokes, Bryan Richardson, Carlo Giovine, Celine Crenshaw, Daniel Herde, Daniel Wallance, David Harvey, Delphine Zurkiya, Diego Hernandez Diaz, Douglas Merrill, Elisa Becker-Foss, Emma Parry, Eric Hazan, Erika Stanzl, Everett Santana, Giacomo Gatto, Grace W Chen, Hamza Khan, Harshit Jain, Helen Wu, Henning Soller, Ian de Bode, Jackson Pentz, Jeffrey Caso, Jesse Klempner, Jim Boehm, Joshua Katz, Julia Perry, Julian Sevillano, Justin Greis, Kersten Heineke, Kitti Lakner, Kristen Jennings, Liz Grennan, Luke Thomas, Maria Pogosyan, Mark Patel, Martin Harrysson, Martin Wrulich, Martina Gschwendtner, Massimo Mazza, Matej Macak, Matt Higginson, Matt Linderman, Matteo Cutrera, Mellen Masea, Michiel Nivard, Mike Westover, Musa Bilal, Nicolas Bellemans, Noah Furlonge-Walker, Obi Ezekoye, Paolo Spranzi, Pepe Cafferata, Robin Riedel, Ryan Brukardt, Samuel Musmanno, Santiago Comella-Dorda, Sebastian Mayer, Shakeel Kalidas, Sharmila Bhide, Stephen Xu, Tanmay Bhatnagar, Thomas Hundertmark, Tinan Goli, Tom Brennan, Tom Levin-Reid, Tony Hansen, Vinayak HV, Yaron Haviv, Yvonne Ferrier, and Zina Cole.

They also wish to thank the external members of the McKinsey Technology Council for their insights and perspectives, including Ajay Agrawal, Azeem Azhar, Ben Lorica, Benedict Evans, John Martinis, and Jordan Jacobs.

Special thanks to McKinsey Global Publishing colleagues Barr Seitz, Diane Rice, Kanika Punwani, Katie Shearer, LaShon Malone, Mary Gayen, Nayomi Chibana, Richard Johnson, Stephen Landau, and Victor Cuevas for making this interactive come alive.

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