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GTP Handbook / The Tutor
GTP Handbook
The Case-Study Method
Ken Battle, Graduate Teacher Program
Copyright ©2002, Graduate Teacher Program
This article is based on a Graduate Teacher Program workshop, conducted by Professor Edward J. Gac, College of Business and Administration, and on a personal interview held by Ken Battle of the Graduate Teacher Program with Professor Gac.
Professor Edward J. Gac chose college teaching as a second career after 15 years as a tax lawyer with both the private sector and the federal government. When faced with teaching courses in business law and income taxation, along with graduate courses in tax policy, wills, trusts, estate tax, and legal accounting, Gac naturally asked himself at the outset of his new career: "What are the qualities of good teaching?"
Gac based his philosophy of teaching on his experience practicing federal tax law and conducting seminars for other federal tax attorneys, and also on his law school training at the University of Illinois. Gac's first choice was the case study method used by law schools. However, as he discovered that many undergraduate students do not have the analytical, argumentative, and evaluative skills required to respond successfully to the pure case study format in class, Professor Gac decided to approach the problem in a unique way. By carefully combining elements of the typical lecture method with elements of the case study method used in law school, Gac created a lecture-and-discussion (or lecture-and-case study) structure for teaching his undergraduate courses in business law and income taxation.
The Lecture-And-Case Study Method
Professor Gac explains his approach to the lecture-and-case study format: "One-third of the course is lecture and the rest is case study, that is, discussion or recitation. In preparation for the recitation, I use the lecture to instruct students on what points to look for in each case.Students are responsible for knowing the facts of the case, the laws applicable to it, and the resolution of the case as stated in the text. They must be prepared to discuss how they would have resolved or adjudicated the case if they were presiding over it. Consequently, each class member must appeal to his or her own sense of equity and justice in evaluating cases.
Furthermore, the class deals with the implications of each case. For example, what precedent will the case set regarding future decisions? Or has this case gone awry in setting a precedent?"
Gac describes the discussion aspect of the case study as the "drama of this method." He finds this description fitting because he never knows for sure where the dialogue with the students will lead. The instructor learns from students as much as students learn from each other. In Gac's opinion, "There are always new insights to glean from these cases, regardless of how many times I have taught them. This arises in large measure from the creative responses of students on the way they would adjudicate a case." Gac points out that one advantage of the Socratic method is that students' engagements in the case material goes beyond rote memorization.Gac believes, however, that the method of instruction alone does not provide the complete text on good teaching--the instructor's attitude is an equally important component. Reflecting on his undergraduate and law school experiences, Professor Gac identified three characteristics common to the attitude of instructors who exemplify good teaching: challenge, fairness, and constant change.
The Importance of Challenge
One characteristic of instructors who are respected for their high standards of teaching is that they, invariably, "stretch" students. According to Professor Gac, quality learning experiences require hard work, much of which is facilitated by the instructor. Assuming that not all learning is self-motivated, Gac finds that his students' motivation, like everyone else's, may sometimes wane in the sense that "it can be like water finding its own level." This does not mean that the instructor should assign work for its own sake, but rather the value of assignments must be related to the objectives of the course. Recalling his own college experience, Professor Gac comments that "cakewalk" courses were a disservice to him as a student. He may have remembered the final grade, but not much else really affected him.The Need for Fairness
Another trait common to instructors recognized for their superior teaching ability is that they have cultivated a concept of fairness. Professor Gac remembers an instructor who lacked a sense of fairness toward students: for two weeks his professor rambled on about some tangential issue that was obviously very interesting to him. When, however, he recognized that the class was behind schedule and an exam was pending, the errant professor said: "The last 200 pages of the readings are on the exam I have already written. Good luck!" Citing this episode Professor Gac reiterates that it is patently unfair to test students on material not covered in lecture and it is equally unfair to replace substantive lecture material with reflections on irrelevant personal experiences.In Gac's opinion, learning occurs when there is a "bridge of trust" established between the instructor and students. To be precise, instructors should not take students for granted or think of them as appendages to their professorship; students are coworkers in the educational process and as such are to be respected and treated fairly.
The Motivation for Constant Change
A third and equally important denominator of excellence in teaching is the instructor's attitude toward his or her own style of teaching. Gac asserts that "terminal boredom is the worst of all diseases. In four years of college, instructors come getting close to knocking off some students." Gac believes that getting stuck in a one-dimensional teaching style is an occupational hazard for instructors. Despite all the virtues of any given teaching method, adherence to the same method of teaching semester after semester, year after year is "terminal." Eventually the course material becomes boring to the instructor and this soon carries over to the students.Gac's evaluation of students' performance reflects his concept of fairness. First, in order to establish a bridge of trust with students, he does not grade the first chapter recitations. This allows students to become comfortable with the structure of the discussion.
Second in preparing for recitation, Professor Gac realizes that the demands of other classes may complicate time management problems for students. Consequently he allots each student two "passes" during the semester for not being prepared for recitation. This provides flexibility to the process and lessens some of the intimidation. Interestingly enough, states Gac, "most students do not use their passes once they have become comfortable with the method."
Gac's actual grading of recitation is based on the students' level of preparation and on their overall contribution to the class discussion. A student who demonstrates that he or she knows the facts of the case, the laws applicable to it, and the resolution of the case as it appears in the text will receive a grade of "C."
A "B," however, is warranted when a student can deal with the dimensions of the case other than what is offered in the text. For example, what are some of the legal implications of a given case?
An "A" is awarded when a student brings something to the class beyond what the instructor has offered. Professor Gac recalls, for example, a recent discussion of a case involving a person brought to court by US Customs for attempting to enter the country with a herbal medicine in violation of federal health codes. During the court proceedings the defendant defended himself. One of the issues of the case centered on the question: "Should a defendant have to use a lawyer to represent himself in court? Or can a defendant (adequately) argue his own case?" Technically, a defendant has the right to represent himself or herself in a court of law, but, according to Professor Gac, the question of whether or not it is advisable is a completely different matter. The student he called upon to discuss this issue supported a defendant's right to self-defense by citing an occasion when he had represented himself in court on an alleged speeding violation. In the ensuing dialogue with the student, Professor Gac thought the student's line of reasoning was superior and thus had affirmed that in some limited cases, self-defense can be justified, notwithstanding the obvious need for legal representation by this defendant.
When querying students, Gac emphasizes that instructors must ask articulate and well orchestrated questions. Ideally, questions posed by instructors will always show some relationship, some meaning to them, as if they were leading a witness. In other words, effective questions build cumulatively to the point. Yet the final learning comes from "within" the student, because the instructor only acts as a "catalyst" for the learning experience.
Gac attempts to remain consistent in his concern for fairness when evaluating students' overall performance. He states: "Students' grades are based on recitations and written exams. The recitation accounts for 20 percent of the final grade. This instills enough incentive for them to constructively engage in discussion but not enough to cause undue anxiety about their final grade for the course. With a class size of approximately 50 students, each of them can expect three to five recitations during the term.
The other 80 percent of the grade is based on written exams. There are two mid-term exams (60 percent essay, 40 percent objective questions per exam) which constitute 50 percent of the grade for the course; the final exam makes up the 30 percent. Written tests are patterned after the recitations so that the latter provide practice for the exams, maintaining maximum continuity between lecture-and-discussion and examination material.
Gac notes with some surprise that "there is a very high correlation between the students' grades on the oral recitations and their written examination grades. Approximately 85 percent are within two points of each other."
Gac not only attempts to evaluate students fairly, but also sees the "collateral benefits" of the lecture-and-discussion format. In recitation, students cannot "sit back and punt." Because they are called on at random, students must confront a certain pressure to "perform" before the instructor and their peers. Internally, the pressure has to do with each student's self-image. None of the students wants to appear incompetent before others; consequently, they all try hard to "look sharp."
Because students hear each other defend their cases during recitation, students have an "ongoing barometer" of whether or not they recognize and understand the issues at hand. Consequently, they do not have to wait until after an exam to discover what adjustments may be required in their assessment or interpretation of the material. The cases can act as an "early warning system" of deficiencies which the student may need to work on.
In addition, essay writing and recitation promotes self-confidence in students' abilities to articulate their own viewpoints. Students benefit by developing problem-solving skills, achieving or improving unity and coherence in oral and written communications, cultivating argumentative skills, and so on. This is essential, Gac reflects, because too often students are allowed or encouraged to remain "passive" in the educational process. Consequently, after four or five years of college, many recent graduates find it difficult to adjust to the demands of the "real" world. Gac stresses that "whether graduates pursue a career in business or otherwise, self-confidence and the ability to communicate their ideas are indispensable. They can't get through life with a #2 pencil! It seems reasonable for students to develop such attitudes and skills in school rather than in the marketplace later."
Despite the demands of the lecture-and-case study approach to teaching, Professor Gac states "my greatest returns as a professor are the 'intangibles,' namely, the quality of the relationship I share with students in the educational process."
