Page 775 - The Case Lab Book

If these questions can be answered then solution generation and justification for such are
well underway. For the lecturer then, the aim is to create a vehicle that, through the
application of judicious questioning, fosters a learner centered and action oriented
experience geared to producing a stimulating, challenging and illuminating pedagogy for
the student.

However, students new to the case method may experience an element of fear when first
confronted with this form of complex, unstructured problem. It is at this point that I tend to
use an ‘armchair’ (non-factual) case study.

Diagrammatically the interactive e-resource case study may be represented as shown in
Diagram 2: the E-Resource Case Study diagram.

At its heart is the case study which has been developed by the lecturer for use with the
student body. In the e-resource case study diagram the case study is depicted as being
embedded in a matrix where its compass points depict an integrative and interdependent
relationship. Furthermore, a ‘live’ case study may lead to further research on the target
company, its industry or pedagogy.

Case teaching is not about pedagogy per say, rather it is partly about releasing the
lecturer from the regurgitation of theory to the interpretation of such through a more
dynamic environmental interface. Likewise, case analysis is not simply about providing a
solution to the case. If it were and if we believe that everything has a price, then the
solution to all cases is simply to sell the company. Finally, research is not a one off event,
rather it is a river at which we drink as the need and occasion demands. The case study
simply provides the access point to the water e.g. the target company of the case study.

Diagram 2’s four quadrants also display the necessity for commitment, co-ordination,
collaboration and co-operation between the stakeholders in the development, production
and use of the e-resource case study.

Diagram 2: E-Resource Case Study