Open solution and flexibility in decision- making to create problem orientation
A case study should be able to motivate students in applying their knowledge and skills in a real-life context. They are built around a practical challenge that leaves room for interpretation and judgment. Students might put emphasis on different aspects of the problem, and they might come up with different good, maybe correct, ideas and suggestions on how to address the case challenge. Cases should be designed to allow such flexibility in decision making and not aim at channeling student effort towards only one correct solution to encourage an foster students’ problem solving skills.
In the video, we guide you through some tips on designing cases with open solutions and flexibility in decision making.
Personal reflection
Why should a teaching case be designed with an open solution?
Real-life decision situations can typically be coped with in many different legitimate and correct ways, as knowledge, information and time will be limited. The teaching case simulates such situations, it should therefore – just like the real life situation – allow for different options and paths that students can come up with to address the problem and decision. It will be via the discussion or the teacher debrief that the different ‘solutions’ are contextualized and evaluated. But the case should allow different solutions to emerge.
How can you foster students’ problem solving capabilities via the design of your case study?
Provide a case with a clear problem, and a concise scenario. But allow multiple, alternative solutions to emerge.