The Case for Online Case-Based Learning

Presenter:

  • Professor Ian McKillop (School of Public Health and Health Systems)

Case-based learning is a student-centered approach for development problem-solving and decision-making skills. Exciting and challenging for both the professor and the student, the case-based method immerses students in a first-person scenario that is usually fraught with conflicting and incomplete information but that nonetheless requires a solution be found.

Pioneered 80 years ago by the Harvard Business School, the case-based method forms the backbone of many management programs today, and is increasingly viewed as an excellent method for developing problem solving skills in other domains.

One of the key attributes that allows the case method to be so effective is the fast-paced to-and-fro classroom discussion component, often conducted in specially designed classrooms called case-rooms, and led by professors who have received special training in the case method.