Making General Principles Come Alive in the Classroom Using an Active Case Studies Approach

Five case studies based on real situations and real data are presented for use in courses on research methodology and data analysis. Departing from the typical case study approach, students are asked to act as consultants to resolve the issues placed before them, prior to being given a solution. In generic terms, students are given a description of a real problem and a real dataset relevant to solving that problem and are asked for their advice on how the problem may be solved. This approach motivates students to take ownership of the problem at hand and provides them with the opportunities and experiences to use the tools of their education actively, rather than to merely acquire them.