Case Study Learning : Ditch the Textbook

posted on : June 7, 2021 posted by : Deebu 0 Comment

In our quest to look for more and more efficient study strategies, today’s post will look at the viability of case studies as a learning strategy. Law students and business students depend a lot on case based learning and I have experienced noticeable improvements in my reasoning skills because of it. So, let’s explore the science behind the idea and see if it’s actually helpful.

What are Case Studies?

The case study method of learning is an approach in which a problem is presented as a story that raises questions about how to solve a predicament. The stories encourage students to think critically and discuss among them self to solve complex problems. Since this requires students to analyse real life like scenarios and apply theoretical knowledge to a particular set of facts, it promotes higher order learning and students learn how to apply theories to real life. This also promotes interdisciplinary learning because real-life problems cannot be completely solved using knowledge from one specific domain.

If you wish to see an example of what a case study looks like, consider having a look at the Carter Racing Problem. The object is to decide whether the Carter Racing team’s car should take part in the biggest race in the season. Carter race car has placed in the top 5 in the last 12 of the 24 races, thanks to their new turbocharger. They won the previous race, and they are looking forward to a 2 million dollar sponsorship from a prestigious company if they do well in today’s race. If they choose not to race, they would end the season at a loss of $80,000 and they can kiss their sponsorship goodbye. The problem is that in 7 of the last 24 races the engine failed and badly damaged the car. In the last 2 races, the mechanics did an engine-prep procedure and had no trouble with the engine. But they cannot discover what caused the engine problem. If the engine fails on National TV, Carter Race won’t just lose the sponsorship, they may permanently go out of business. So the biggest issue is determining why the engine failed. A theory is presented that it could be because of the temperature, but enough quantitative data doesn’t exist to come to that conclusion. All we have is qualitative reasoning. If temperature is the reason, the best option is to not race. What would you decide?

SPOILERS: They base the Carter Racing problem on NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which resulted in the death of 7 astronauts because the O-ring joints used in the spacecraft was not designed to handle the cold temperature during that launch. NASA dismissed concerns of previous failures due to lack of quantitative data, similar to the Carter Racing problem. By ardently sticking to the habit of using quantitative data, they failed to use qualitative reasoning and that resulted in the death of 7 astronauts.

If you were to decide to race in the above case, it might cause your driver’s death. But since it’s a fictional scenario, you could analyse the proper decision without fear of the consequence. That said, learn from your mistakes and reason better next time. It would be sad if people ended up dead or hurt because of poor reasoning you developed from these practices.

How can Case Studies Help Students?

As previously mentioned, using the case study method promotes higher order thinking in students. But let’s be more specific on what these benefits are.

Multi-disciplinary knowledge:

In his book Range: why generalists triumph in a specialised world, David Epstein point out that experts in a field are not people who chose a field at an early age and stuck with it for 10,000 hours, unlike what popular theories would have you believe. Most experts actually go through a period of sampling where they test out other fields that maybe of interest to them before settling down on one field to specialise in. What makes these experts special is the fact that they can bring together the knowledge and skill they gained during the sampling period to come up with innovative solutions in the area they choose to specialise in. So spreading your knowledge wide and learning from multiple fields make you an efficient problem solver and an expert. The case study method of learning does exactly this. As I previously mentioned, most real-life problems cannot be solved with knowledge from one field alone. Real-life problem solving requires you to draw from multiple source that maybe inter-disciplinary in nature. Finding an effective solution to a case study can lead you to research and learn content from multiple different fields, and can set you on the path to become an expert.

Develop Higher Order Thinking:

According to Bloom’s Taxonomy, memorising and understanding something comes under lower order learning while analysing, applying and evaluating something is a part of higher order learning. The Case study method forces you to use your higher order thinking skills in order to effectively solve the problem. This helps you understand how the theories you learned can apply to real life while also developing a deeper understanding of the topics than what would otherwise be possible. As studies show, students who learn through case studies are better able to recognise the connections between different concepts. This helps you learn the subject as a whole, knowing well how different ideas are interrelated. Basically, you learn to see the larger picture.

Helps Develop Analytical Skill to Determine the When and Why of application:

Studies show that students who learn through case studies are better able to determine when, why and how to apply a particular skill. We have previously discussed the 3 different kinds of knowledge. Among the three, Domain Specific Strategies are a special type of knowledge that cannot be automated. Such knowledge can only be acquired by training in different types of situations. Facing different kinds of real world challenges teaches you how to develop domain specific strategies. Case studies are either inspired by real-life scenarios or completely based on real situations. It basically gives you the experience of facing real life challenges with none of the risk. You can try being innovative without fear of failure or fear of a boss breath down your neck.

It is More Effective than Reading Textbooks and Attending Lectures:

In a study conducted on medical students, 82% of the students found case studies to be really helpful, 70% found class discussions to be helpful and only 57% found reading textbooks to be helpful. As you can see, most students reported case studies to be more helpful. This difference is not just in perception. The students who used the case study method had an average increase of 2 letter grades on their tests. Use of textbooks or class discussions did not have the same results. This is understandable because students are susceptible to passively reading with textbooks and class discussions won’t always cover the issues in depth. Case study method is more preferable because it could easily help you cover the gap from fail to pass.

It Trains you to Handle Open-ended Questions:

In life, you often learn that some questions don’t have a straightforward answer. You can’t always come to the “correct answer”. Real life works much different from schools where you can find the right answer by just following the textbook. Case studies often pose such questions that do not have a straightforward answer. Instead of just avoiding these questions, students using case studies learn how to find the most reasonable answer possible.

The NASA challenger problem discussed above is an example of such an open-ended question. They followed the textbook method of relying on quantitative data. This had worked for them in the past, but there was no data immediately available in this case. Instead of using alternative methods to navigate the problem, they relied on their usual method, and that lead to the death of 7 people. Just being familiar with one method is conformity. Practising with open-ended questions helps you avoid such conformity.

It is Generally More Interesting:

Case studies are basically like interpreting a story, and story are usually more interesting than textbooks. You can put yourself through an awful movie, but it is hard to push through a difficult textbook. Just like that, finding answers to questions raised by case studies provides you with the role of dealing with the situation from the perspective of the protagonist, and everyone wants to be the protagonist. In my post about Brain movies, I already talked about how your brain interprets a story as if you are experiencing the story yourself. When case studies, you can not only experience being the protagonist but also decide what decisions the protagonist can make.

How to Use Case Studies to Aid Learning?:

Firstly, if you are wondering where you can find case studies, you can find them at the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS). Obviously this is not the only way. There are several websites and books that would contain a ton of case studies you can work with. I know this website called crime scene that creates detailed hypothetical crime scenarios for people to solve. You should also try MIT OCW to see if they have study material containing case studies for the field you are interested in.

Now that we know where to find case studies and how case studies can make us more efficient learners, lets talk about how to use case studies to make the best of them.

Case Studies Work Equally Well Regardless of the Specific Facts of the Case:

In the study that found that use of case studies caused an increase by almost 2 letter grades, they found that there is no one golden case that gets you the most marks. Every case works equally well. This is probably because the learning actually occurs when you research to find the concepts that apply to the context and think about how you can use these concepts to remedy the situation. As long as your case requires you to research and analyse similar concepts, the exact nature of the stories does not matter. So don’t obsess over finding a better case. Just find one that’s appropriate for the subject you want to learn and start problem solving.

It Works Regardless of Who the Author is:

Obviously, there are some standards that must be met before a case study can be considered valid and efficient. It has to test the students in multiple areas of knowledge. Designing such a test requires careful thought. But, provided you find someone who can put in this thought, it does not matter who drafts the case brief. A draft made by your college professor would be just as efficient as any other case you may find on the internet. Basically, you don’t have to care about who made the case study, just check if it’s of good quality and whether it encourages you to think.

Case Studies do not have a Compounding Effect:

When using case studies to study for exams, they found that doing more case studies did not increase their performance in exams. You cannot become an expert in solving case study problems by practicing more and more. This could be because repeated application becomes more mechanical. If you know exactly how to solve a problem, you don’t have to think about how different concepts can be applied creatively. You could just fall back on your tried and tested method. But this area has scope for further testing. For example, studies have found that spaced repetition helps solidify your memory further because you revise something just before you are about to forget about it. What if the same holds true for case solving? Maybe case studies won’t help you if solve multiple similar cases in one go. But what if you used spaced repetition to solve the second similar case just before you are about to forget the first? I couldn’t find any scientific backing for this, but this is definitely a hypothesis worth testing.

Start Working!:

Case studies can definitely give your learning a boost. So, find a field you are interested in, surf the net to find case studies to work, and start problem solving.