Andreas Walmsley & Glyn Littlewood What’s in the news? Using case studies in business education February 2012

Aim: to enhance learning in a Level 3 module: Organisational Strategy & Decision Making

Action undertaken: Begin each lecture with a case study/case studies relating to current business news In a broad sense we wanted to stimulate a ‘business mindset’ in students. We wanted to create a desire for understanding the exciting world of business.

Evaluation: A short questionnaire distributed in the penultimate teaching week

“We have put together a short survey whose overall aim is to try to understand your learning experience of this module. We would appreciate it if you could complete the survey which should not take more than ten minutes. All answers are anonymous and in no way will anything you write here be attributable at an individual level.”

Theoretical backdrop: Motivation lies at the heart of learning. In other words, learning will be facilitated if a need or want to learn exists (Race, 2005).

Theoretical backdrop: Biggs (2003) argues there are two factors that make students want to learn something: a)it must in some way be important to the learner, b) the learner must believe that s/he can successfully complete the learning task.

Where the link between academic theory and industry practice is made clear there should, on the whole, be an increase in interest on the part of the student body which in turn should lead to a greater engagement with the body of knowledge that is being taught.

Overview of the sample 37 respondents 23 female; 14 male Mean age of years 70% UK; 11 % EU (excl. UK); 19 % Non-EU

3 = completely negative; 15 = completely positive Positive

Text 3 = completely positive; 15 = completely negative Negative Positive

Impact of work experience on attitude towards case studies A weak indication that work experience is positively associated with positive Attitudes towards case studies

Gender and attitude towards case studies Gender * Recoded T1 Crosstabulation Count Recoded T1 Total amibivalent towards case studies positive towards case studies Gender Male7714 Female Total No discernible influence of gender on attitudes towards case studies exists.

Original labelNew labelCategory Low career drive Average career drive 23+3High career drive

Career drive and attitude towards case studies Recoded career drive * Recoded T1 Crosstabulation Count Recoded T1 Total amibivalent towards case studies positive towards case studies Recoded career drive Low career drive235 Average career drive High career drive336 Total No discernible influence of career drive on attitudes towards case studies exists.

What did the case study add? For the vast majority it was claimed it assisted in relating academic theory to practice

By applying knowledge previously learnt to real life examples this helps secure my learning. Examples are vital to the understanding and critique of theory. They were very helpful. It was really useful to apply the theory to 'real- life' situations and also prepares us for future careers - thinking like a CEO etc. Questionnaire responses

It helped to put complex theories into context and show that what we were learning in lectures had genuine relevance to modern business which made me more inclined to learn them well. Initially it was helpful to understand lecture topic by giving case study at the beginning Questionnaire responses

Module Evaluation Case studies were particularly helpful in the seminars I have found that staff have made the module interesting: 4.13 The assessment tested what I was supposed to learn: 4.41

Summary Some initial encouraging comments and data relating to the inclusion of case studies. A link between practical application of case studies and academic learning and assessment. A complex relationship that would benefit from further research, e.g.: –Expand to include other modules –Influence of case studies across subject areas –Development of methodology to better understand the relationship between case studies and learning. References: Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for Quality Learning at University, (2nd/Ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press. Race, P. (2005). Making Learning Happen. A guide for post-compulsory education,London: Sage.