“Before using the case study my classes were only somewhat engaged. I noticed last week that my students, both regular Ed and Special Ed were reading and actually talking about the case. They have always been told they cannot read but we found out different. …  My students can be very challenging but for five days we were all rock stars!”­­ — CMI partner teacher

A “case” is a detailed narrative that describes a challenge faced by an individual or organization. Each case includes the information available to decision-makers at the time, and leads to a specific decision point, but without revealing the actual decision made. For each class, students are asked to read the case and to put themselves in the shoes of the decision-makers to consider what they themselves would have done given the information provided.

Each case also includes extensive historical background on the relevant issues and events leading up to the decision point. For example, a case about Martin Luther King Jr. during the campaign for black voting rights in 1965 also traces the broader civil rights movement, as well as the history of segregation and black disenfranchisement in the U.S. since the Civil War.

In class, the instructor asks questions to guide student discussion. These carefully designed questions, provided in a separate Teaching Plan, are the key to any successful case-method class. An experienced case-method teacher is often thinking several steps ahead, anticipating what points and questions might be raised and standing ready with follow-up questions to guide the group. Active participation in class is essential to the case method’s success, and the grading metrics reflect its importance. Students quickly learn to speak up, to challenge each other, and to build on each other’s ideas.

Any professor or teacher can teach by the case method. Content expertise beyond the case itself is helpful but not required. To assist both experienced and new case-method teachers, each case has its own Teaching Plan: a flexible roadmap for the instructor that suggests specific questions, strategies for eliciting key insights, and ideas for organizing student responses visually on a blackboard.