Centre of Expertise for Higher Education

Working with case studies

September 2024

in cooperation with Caroline Dothee (UAntwerp, Department of Management, Department of Linguistics), Patrick d'Haens (UAntwerp, Department of Accountancy and Finance) and Stijn Slootmans (UAntwerp, Department of Nursing and Midwifery Sciences)

A case study which is useful for teaching provides a detailed description of a realistic situation and/or a problem that students might encounter in their later field of work. It reflects the complexity and ambiguity of practice and thus teaches students to deal with uncertainties and find a solution from a mass of information (Golich et al., 2000).

Traditionally, in higher education, case studies were mainly used within medicine, law and business administration. Nowadays, however, they are used in almost all disciplines (CITL, n.d.). They can therefore take many forms: a text, a newspaper article, a song, a poem, a video, a presentation by someone in the field, a worker with chest pain, the wreckage of a crashed plane, etc (Golich et al., 2000).

In what follows, we start with a brief reflection on the value of working with case studies. Then, using examples, we discuss how to use case studies in your programme component. We finish off with some points of interest in terms of design, guidance and assessment.

Why case studies?

Integrating case studies into your programme component can prove valuable for several reasons. First, case studies encourage experiential learning. Theory is applied in a concrete practical context by simulating a (potential) future work environment. This increases student motivation (Lkoundi & van Woerden, 1997).

As a teacher, you may choose to briefly discuss a case study to illustrate the learning content. On the other hand, you can also let students actively get involved in processing/solving a (more complex) case by themselves. This approach promotes effective learning: a better understanding of the subject matter, which is remembered for longer.

In the master programme in Nursing and Midwifery (UAntwerp), students choose a real problem from a healthcare organisation in the field. In groups, they then work on this 'care project'. They then apply the theoretical concepts and models given from three programme components to use (where possible) in the development of their specific case.

Cases are ideally suited to teach students to make a thorough analysis and corresponding informed decision. Having students work on a case in groups can also focus on developing communication and collaboration skills (Golich et al., 2000). The group setting encourages students to exchange diverse ideas and/or viewpoints, which contributes to a holistic understanding of the topic at the centre of the case study (Golich et al., 2000).

How to use case studies? Some examples

Depending on the course objectives and, just as importantly, the time you can/will free up within your programme component, you can use case studies as appropriate. As mentioned, as a teacher, you can briefly discuss a case to illustrate the learning content during one of your lessons. Another possibility is for students, whether (partly) prepared at home or not (see ECHO education tip Flipped classroom [2019])) to individually or in groups work through a case which then forms the basis for a group discussion. This might involve role-playing, such as in the programme component Negotiation (Master of Multilingual Professional Communication, UAntwerp):

In the programme component Negotiation (Master of Multilingual Professional Communication), students put curricular content on meeting and negotiating into practice during role plays. In doing so they are placed in a negotiating situation and must reach an agreement. They are assigned a specific role (to be prepared in advance) with clear instructions, e.g. 'take a certain position during a meeting on arrangements for time off’. 

Another course component of this master is an intensive one-day workshop at the end of the semester. This allows almost a full semester to familiarise students with the theoretical concepts needed to discuss the case studies during the one-day workshop.

An intensive one-day workshop is given in the Financial Reporting programme component (Master of Multilingual Professional Communication, UAntwerp). Initially, group work was organised in which students worked for an entire semester scrutinising a company's financial statements. However, this did not work well because students had insufficient prior economic knowledge. Therefore, an alternative was chosen, namely a one-day workshop on the last day of classes. This way, all subject matter can be covered before students have to work with it themselves. The case study is put online the night before the workshop. Several classrooms are provided for the actual workshop, where students can work on their assignments in groups. The day ends with presentations in which the groups present their companies to each other based on key questions such as 'Is it advisable to buy shares in this company?'.

 Working with (extensive) cases takes a relatively long time that cannot be spent on applying theory directly (Golich et al., 2000). A well-considered combination of theoretical lessons on the one hand and allowing students to work on cases on the other is advisable. Be sure to take into account the study burden for students.

Design considerations

If you can use a real-life case, you obviously don't need to design a (fictional) case yourself. This can save you considerable time; so be sure to look for it (online or otherwise). Keep in mind, however, that a real-life case may be too complex for students with relatively little prior content knowledge and/or experience working with cases. It can be easier to tailor a self-designed, fictional case to (the level of) the specific learning content of your programme component. The optimal approach is often most beneficial: start from a real case and adapt it so that it fits perfectly with your programme component and the prior knowledge of your group of students.

When choosing and/or designing your case study, make sure it meets (as many of) the following characteristics (Herreid, 1998):

  • Deals with a relevant and recognisable issue that attracts attention;
  • Is set in the last five years;
  • Evokes empathy for the main characters (if any) by characterising them with recognisable personalities;
  • Uses quotes;
  • Has pedagogical value: students can learn something from it;
  • Provides food for thought (and discussion): challenges students to think about different aspects of the situation;
  • Is short, so the reader does not get bored or lose the main thread; it is best to divide a long(er) case into a few manageable pieces;
  • Is appropriate to/constructed from the learning objectives of your lesson and/or the final competences of your programme component.

Make sure there is enough variety in the case studies so that students take the initiative to get involved in them. This is to prevent recycling and plagiarism among students. Changing a few (crucial) elements in a case study is not much work for you as a lecturer, but it often means that students have to work out a different analysis and/or solution method, and cannot just copy the work of others.

Points of interest in terms of guidance

Give students guidance on working with a case study. Keep in mind the prior knowledge and experience of the student group. Minimal guidance consists of offering guiding questions that students can and/or should reflect on with the case study. If more guidance is necessary, you can give students a specific step-by-step plan to analyse the case, such as the so-called seven-step approach (see also ECHO: Vijftig onderwijstips - Tip 27, in Dutch). Also tools, such as De Bono's thinking hats by De Bono (in Dutch), especially appropriate within the humanities, can help students approach a case from (enough) different perspectives. If students work on a case for a long time, it is advisable to give them interim feedback on whether or not they are on the right track.

To get students involved in discussing a (shorter) case study during your lesson, you may want to use the 1-2-4-ALL structure. Here, you let students first think about the case individually before exchanging their ideas one after the other in pairs and quattros (groups of four) and shaping them further together. Finally, the insights from the different quattros are discussed as a group.

A plenary (post-)discussion should ensure that any erroneous and/or insufficiently in-depth/genuine analyses can be corrected (see also ECHO: Vijftig onderwijstips - Tip 29, in Dutch). The following techniques will help you with this:

  • Further questions: ask additional questions to explore a perspective in depth (Lkoundi & van Woerden, 1997).
  • Encourage diverse perspectives: ask other students (groups) if they agree with a perspective taken. Do they have arguments that confirm or refute their perspective? (Queen's University, n.d.).
  • Midpoint reflection: midway through the feedback discussion, ask a student (group) which aspect of the case study was not discussed that much. This encourages the introduction of a new perspective to the discussion, allowing previously less featured parts of the case to be considered (Vanderbilt University, n.d.).

Working with cases is a student-centred form of work (Golich et al., 2000). If you let students work independently on a case study, take on a (purely) facilitating role as a teacher (see ECHO: Vijftig onderwijstips - Tip 19, in Dutch).  Minimise any differences in supervision when working with colleagues in supervisory roles. So, agree among yourselves on the level of support, feedback and direction.

Points of interest in terms of assessment

If you emphasise working with case studies throughout your course, it is a good idea to also assign sufficient weight in the assessment to how well students can analyse a case study. Consider the use of an overall test, a specific form of test in which case studies are used to ask insight and/or application questions about the learning content (see also ECHO: Vijftig onderwijstips - Tip 33, in Dutch).

If you linked group work to working with cases, you might consider, additionally to your assessment as a teacher, having students also assess each other's work and/or cooperation with each other (van der Vleuten & Driessen, 2000). The important thing here is to make your exact criteria clear. Additionally, requiring students to justify their assessments contributes to the quality of those assessments (see also ECHO education tip, 2017).

Want to know more?

ECHO session:

ExpertiseCentrum Hoger Onderwijs (2013). Vijftig onderwijstips. Antwerpen-Apeldoorn: Garant. (Available online in Dutch for UAntwerp staff members after logging in here)

  • Tip 19: Teacher's guidance roles when working with assignments
  • Tip 27: Guidance using the seven-step approach
  • Tip 29: Guiding a discussion
  • Tip 33: Cross-curricular testing with the overall test

ECHO teaching tips:

Relevant literature:

​Lees deze tip in het Nederlands​