EMPOWERING EDUCATORS AT
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
Case-based teaching
Case-based teaching is an approach that engages students in analysing realistic scenarios to develop their ability to think, interpret, and make decisions in context. Rather than starting with abstract theory, learning begins with a case that presents complexity, uncertainty, and multiple perspectives. This encourages students to actively construct knowledge and apply concepts in meaningful ways.
The teacher’s role
The instructor takes on the role of facilitator rather than lecturer, guiding discussion and helping students connect specific cases to broader theoretical frameworks. Well-designed cases promote active participation, critical thinking, and collaboration, while also supporting the transfer of knowledge to real-world situations.
Case-based teaching is flexible and can be adapted across disciplines and teaching formats. However, it requires careful planning, clear expectations, and alignment between learning outcomes and assessment. Students may need support in adjusting to open-ended tasks and participatory learning.
The student’s role
The analytical work of a case typically evolves around four student tasks:
- Recognize and explain the issue(s)
- Identify and evaluate options
- Propose and argue for possible solutions
- Predict the effects of the actions
When implemented thoughtfully, case-based teaching fosters deeper learning by encouraging students to move beyond memorisation toward analysis, reflection, and application—skills essential for academic success and professional practice.
Approaches to teaching with cases
In its most fundamental form, case teaching is characterized by the following:
“…a narrative approach that is highly contextualized to provide learners with opportunities for dialogue and debate, deliberately aiding the process of informed and independent decision making (…) Students actively participate in real or hypothetical problem situations, reflecting the kind of experiences naturally encountered in the discipline under study.” (Bennett et al., 2002:74)
A case class may involve interactive elements like role-plays, debates, or jigsaw. Regardless of the approach selected, case-based teaching challenges students to work on real-life problems. Motivating the students to use and develop their high-thinking skills and using evidence, theories and concepts when coming up with a solution for the case. It is a great way to engage students in class and stimulate experience-based learning.
| Approach | Useful for… | Instructor role | Student role | Output |
| Role-play | Developing empathy by taking on diverse perspectives, creative thinking | Facilitate, structure the role-playing session | Play the role of different protagonists in the case, understanding their point of view | Students can understand and describe the protagonist’s perspective in the case and reflect upon it |
| Debate | Develop critical thinking and communication skills | Structure and facilitate a debate between opposing sides in a case | Working in teams to develop and present arguments | Students get a better understanding of the complexity of the case by arguing between conflicting sides |
| Jigsaw | Promote peer-to-peer learning | Form groups and assign different pieces or opposing sides from the case to the groups, forming new groups with an “expert” from each previous groups | Active learning and collaboration through first studying their “own” part of the jigsaw (case), then sharing and discussing the whole case with students who have other parts of the case. Developing “expertise” of their part of the problem. | Active learning and collaboration. Facilitate and present complex problems to their peers |
Resources / References
The HBS Case Method Defined (link)
A video introduction to the case method and how it is applied in practise at Harvard Business School.
Harvard Business Impact (link)
Harvard Business Impact offers a wide range of resources on teaching for both teachers and students. A large part of their website is dedicated to the case method.
The Case Centre (link)
The Case Centre is a European-based centre promoting the use of the case method in management education. It offers a large collection of management study materials including over 46,000 teaching cases from around the world.
Ivey Publishing (link)
Ivey Publishing provides business case studies with a global perspective and has over 8,000 products in its collection, adding more than 350 classroom-tested case studies each year. Almost all Ivey cases have teaching notes.
Bennett, S.; B. Harper & J. Hedberg (2002): Designing real life cases to support authentic design activities. Australian Journal of Education Technology, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 1-12.
Branch, J.; Bartholomew, P. & Nygaard, C.(2014): CASE-BASED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION, Libri Publishing.
Ellet, W. (2007). The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases. Harvard Business Press.