Case Study Pedagogy to Advance Critical Thinking

Sharon A. McDade
Teachers College/ Columbia University

For many instructors, case studies and discussion method
pedagogy are newly discovered teaching strategies recently
introduced into many disciplines for which lecture and
small-group discussion used to be the norm. Although inter-
est in case studies as a teaching mechanism is new, the ped-
agogy itself is very old -- as old as the ancient storytellers who
told a narrative (case) to promote children's individual dis-
covery of wisdom, knowledge of the surrounding world, and
development of the thought processes of survival. The goals
of storytelling in those ancient cultures were similar to our goals
in using case studies today: to foster critical thinking and
reflection so that students learn how to learn on their own.

The terminology of this pedagogy is a good place to begin.
The terms case study and discussion method are often used
interchangeably, although the terms come at the topic from
different directions. Case study refers to the vehicle of the
pedagogy; that is, the use of a case -- a written description
of a problem or situation -- to present a problem for analysis.
Discussion method refers to the process of the pedagogy;
that is, the method of an instructor facilitating a structured,
preplanned discussion to lead students through the process
of analyzing a piece of material. Although a case study is
most often analyzed through facilitated in-class discussion,
a case can also be the foundation for simulations, role-plays,
written exercises, and a wide variety of other pedagogical
methods. Conversely, discussion method teaching can cen-
ter around any number of devices that trigger analysis. The
discussion-triggering vehicle is often discipline specific; for
example, a floor plan in architecture, a patient's chart in
medicine, a poem in literature, a newspaper article in po-
litical science, and a statistical table in economics.

A case is a particular type of document created for specific
purposes. Although case studies have long been used in
research, particularly qualitative research, the cases used for
teaching are usually specifically crafted to support intensive
discussion and detailed analysis. A case is a story about a
situation that is carefully designed to include only facts
arranged in a chronological sequence. A teaching case ends
before the conclusion of the story; students provide the
analysis and speculate, based on their analysis, on possible
solutions and conclusions. The purpose of a teaching case
study is to create in the classroom realistic laboratories for
applying research techniques, decision-making skills, and
critical-thinking analysis.

A case study/discussion method provides a unique learn-
ing experience. Students prepare by analyzing the case
(identifying key characters, determining central issues, and
assessing internal and external climate and forces). They
must identify objectives and goals for key characters by
putting themselves in the shoes of those characters. This
first-person analysis includes ascertaining resources, constit-
uencies, and constraints; determining sources and nature of
conflicts, and the dynamics of behavior; isolating decisions
to be made; identifying alternatives; and anticipating and
assessing consequences of decisions and actions. As a foun-
dation for this analysis, students must apply theoretical para-
digms and constructs, thus deriving theory from practice
and practice from theory.

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