DAWN TRAYNORUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE

STEPHANIE GANSERUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT WILMINGTON

Teaching and Training Using the Case Study

Method

Who are we?

Dawn Traynor Training Graduate Assistants Training Peer Advisors Teaching Academic Success Seminar

Stephanie Ganser Training Resident Advisors Training Graduate Assistants Freshman and Transfer Seminar

What is the Case Study Method?

A method of teaching and training that: Uses real-life scenarios to challenge “[participants] to

make difficult decisions about complex human dilemmas”

Promotes critical and reflective thinking Challenges participants to view different perspectives

on multifaceted issues Allows participants to experience and learn from

problems they have never actually encountered personally

Encourages civil dialogue

Case Study Method in Practice

Ethics Graduate SeminarGraduate Assistant TrainingAcademic Success SeminarResident Advisor TrainingPeer Advisor TrainingFreshman and Transfer Seminars

How to find existing cases

Begin with the end in mind—what do you want your students/colleagues to learn from the training?

Use print resources Case Studies for the First Year: An Odyssey into Critical

Thinking and Problem Solving Ethics and College Student Life: A Case Study Approach Maybe I Should: Case Studies on Ethics for Student Affairs

ProfessionalsContact professional associations

NACRA and SECRA Check search enginesTalk to colleagues

How to write your own case study

Begin with the end in mind What do you want your students/colleagues to learn

from the training?Conduct your research

What real-life scenarios/examples/situations can you use to base this on?

Figure out how to organize the case If shorter, what is the essential information? If longer, what is your hook, your story, and your

conclusion?

Shorter Cases: Essential Information

What do your readers HAVE to know?What do you want your readers to question?Example:

John is a second-semester freshman Biology major who is considering changing his major to Nursing. He is taking 16 credit hours including BIOL 101, CHEM 110, MUSC 116, UCOL 101, PSYC 101, and brought in AP credit for ENGL 101. His first-semester GPA was 2.2, and he is financially supporting himself during college by working 25 hours per week. What would you do?

John is a freshman Biology major who is considering changing his major to Nursing. He is taking 16 credit hours this semester and brought in AP credit for English. What would you do?

Longer Cases: The Hook

Grabs the reader’s interestCreates a dilemmaIdentifies a clear protagonist/point of viewWritten in the past tenseExample:

Rachel sat in her office, staring at the computer screen.  As she read the email over again, her emotions ranged from confusion to frustration to guilt.  How flexible could she be with one student without being unfair to the other students?  And how much of a student’s personal circumstances could she take into consideration when enforcing policies and assigning grades?  She held her head in her hands and thought “What do I do now?”

Longer Cases: The Hook

Examples: The other students stared at John, waiting for an answer.

“You seriously want me to go alone and talk to the professor about Maria?” he asked. His group members nodded, as one mumbled, “You did say you’d be the group leader.” John swallowed hard and decided he was definitely beginning to regret that decision.

As she prepared to knock on the door, Callie thought one more time about what she had learned during RA training. She was sure what she had seen a few minutes earlier in the hallway, but this would be the first time she had to enforce the university’s drinking policy and she knew the girls wouldn’t be happy. I wish this was just another role play, she thought.

Longer Cases: The Story

Includes all of the necessary information needed to make a judgment

Introduces key issues, situations, and circumstances

Uses original, unaltered documents as much as possible (identifying details changed) Emails Contracts Transcripts Honor codes/student handbook policies

Develops in a logical sequence

Longer Cases: The Conclusion

Relates back to the hookServes as a climaxForces the participant to make a decisionExplicitly or implicitly poses questions to the

participantExample:

All of a sudden, Rachel was exhausted. She held her head in her hands and thought “What do I do now?”

The Conclusion

Example: As Meredith began to realize that this was the first

major test of her professional career, Lexie asked again, “Well what do I do?”  Meredith knew that SU had an honor code (EXHIBIT 1), and there was a process that students went through if they were accused of plagiarism or cheating (EXHIBIT 2).  If the student was found responsible, there were significant consequences (EXHIBIT 3).  Meredith cleared her throat and thought to herself, Are we even allowed to turn Christina in?  Was there an unspoken confidentiality agreement between an Academic Progress Monitor and the student that would make this a special circumstance?  If we do turn her in, does this mean the end of her future in the Chemical Engineering program?

How to use case studies

Whenever possible, use real life scenarios Change identifying details Let students know it really happened, but give

disclaimerTweak details to fit your teaching/training

situation, but stay true to your original scenario and purpose

Ensure the participants have the necessary context to make a decision regarding the case

How to use case studies

Decide whether a short or extended case study best meets your needs Consider level of detail necessary, time allotted, type

of activityExplain the “ground rules” of case studies

You must make a decision You must use evidence from case to support decision

Have colleagues review before using it

Activity

Group - Who will be doing the case study?

Topic - What overarching topic will you be covering?

Issue(s) - What specific issues will you address?

Outcome(s) - What should participants learn from the case study?

Case Study - What are potential ideas/experiences/scenarios?

Peer Advisors

Major change (MATH to NURS)

Curriculum Understanding NURS curriculum requirements

Freshman Seminar

Personal accountability

Academic integrity

Understand univ policy & consequences (personal and university) of cheating

Discussion

What questions or comments do you have?

THANK YOU!

Dawn Traynordtraynor@uncc.edu

Stephanie Gansergansers@uncw.edu

Resources

Hamrick, F. (2009). Maybe I should--: Case studies on ethics for student affairs professionals. Lanham: University Press of America

Redmer, T. (n.d.). Writing a Case, The Hook, Story, & The Catch. Regent University. timored@regent.edu