The Art and Craft of Case Writing by William Naumes & Margaret J. Naumes

Author:William Naumes & Margaret J. Naumes
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781317458326
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2014-12-18T08:00:00+00:00

Evaluating the Educational Objectives

The success of the case’s educational objectives is less directly observable. You will have to reconstruct the types of learning displayed by the class, based on your recollections and your notes. One place to start is to examine the type of learning that is embodied in each of your discussion questions. A question that asks students to show how a theory applies to the case’s situation calls for a lower level of skills than one that asks them what theories might apply. The first question calls for matching specific details, while the second calls for more abstract reasoning. If students were asked for their recommendation or their judgment, a still higher level of skills and attitudes would be needed. If they successfully responded to these questions, they were able to demonstrate the appropriate level of learning. You may also have observed skills beyond those specifically asked for: students integrating facts, drawing comparisons, searching for linkages on their own. Your case is truly effective if these skills match the educational objectives that you set for the case. If you wanted these higher levels of learning skills but didn’t observe them, as with key issues and linkages, you will need to determine whether students were confused or otherwise unable to accomplish your goals, or whether the questions and discussion didn’t probe deeply enough. Similarly, if students were focused too heavily on the human dimension at the expense of analysis or vice versa (Exhibit 2.2 on page 28), the questions should be reexamined.

A discussion that ran too long for the time available, as noted above, may indicate that the case is more complex or more difficult than appropriate for this position in this course. The reverse, a discussion that finishes easily in the time allowed, may also have several causes. The questions that you developed for class testing may have proved to be too easy or too obvious. Were there issues that were not explored in class? If so, then revising the questions may be all that is needed to bring the case to the level of learning you anticipated. But it is also possible that the case itself is less complex, the linkages straightforward. There may be additional information that you can add, that is relevant but that will give students the opportunity to decide for themselves what is important. The alternative is to reposition the case earlier in the course, when students are still developing the relevant skills.

Finally, testing the case in a classroom setting will have told you a great deal about its pedagogy. You will have a greater appreciation for the nuances of the case, how students will respond to your questions or whether new questions are needed, how to tell the “A” students from the average, how to lay out the board for maximum effectiveness. All of these will be important aids that you can provide to future instructors, as will be discussed in Chapter 8.

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