PLANNING FOR CASES

1. The learning goals and objectives of the course

• Which goals could be met by having students use the case study approach? Often a case will allow students to address more than one goal at a time. This kind of analysis can be a starting place for case writing.
  
• A second way to use the goals of the course is when you evaluate an available case for use in your class. Ask yourself these questions:
  • What is the case about?
  • What are some of the potential learning issues?
  • Are these central enough to the case for me to use this case? Can I modify the case?
  • How difficult or obscure are the issues in the case?
  • Will there be issues my students will care about?
  • Is the case open-ended enough for students to go beyond fact finding?
  • What do I see as possible areas for investigation?
  • What product might I ask students to produce?
  • Is the case too short or too long for the time I have available?
  • What sorts of learning resources might be needed for this case? Are they accessible?
  • If I use this case, what lectures/labs/discussions might I want to change, add or eliminate?

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