76 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

8 CHAPTER

PROJECT BASED LEARNING (PBL) AND

RESEARCH BASED LEARNING
V P S Arora1
Parul Saxena2
Neha Gangwar3

1
Pro Chancellor, Shri Venkateshwara University Uttar Pradesh
2
Assistant Professor, Sharda University, Greater Noida
3
Assistant Professor, Periyar Management and Computer College, New Delhi

Structure

 8.1 Learning Outcomes

 8.2 Introduction
 8.3 Project Based Learning
 8.4 Research Based Learning
 8.5 Case Based Learning
 8.6 Summary
 8.7 Key terms with Definition
 8.8 Review Questions
 8.9 Case Study

8.1 Learning Outcomes

Reader-faculty of the chapter is likely to gain understanding of let student
• Examine and try out what he knows and
• Discover what he/ she needs to learn
• Develop needed skills for achieving higher performance in teams
• Manage projects and hold leadership roles.
• Work independently
CEGR BOOK 77

• Improve his/ her analytical and problem solving skills

• State and defend positions with evidence and sound argument
• Become more flexible in processing information and meeting obligations
• Practice life/ employability skills
• Apply critical thinking
• Explore Self-directed learning and explain concepts
• Apply course content to real world examples
• Solve problem across disciplines.
8.2 Introduction
Problem/ Project/ Research/ Case-based learning are exciting alternatives to traditional classroom
learning. These methods of learning are student-focused, which allow for active learning and better
understanding and retention of knowledge. These facilitate students develop life skills that enhance
content knowledge, foster the development of communication, problem solving, critical thinking,
collaboration, and self-directed learning skills. Through these approaches students are positioned
to optimally act resolving real-world experiences. These approaches represent a paradigm shift
from traditional teaching and learning philosophy, which is primarily lecture based. The constructs
for teaching through these methods are very different from traditional classroom or lecture teaching
and often requires more preparation time and resources to support small group learning. Under
these methods teacher presents students a problem, not lectures or assignments or exercises. Since
students are not handed “content”, the learning becomes active in the sense that students discover
and work with content that you determine to be necessary to solve the problem. In the process the
teacher acts as facilitator and mentor, rather than a source of “solutions.”
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered approach in which students are made to learn
a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. The problem is what drives the
motivation and the learning. Rather than teaching relevant material and subsequently having
students apply the knowledge to solve problems, the problem is presented first.  There is no unique
mechanism to proceed to find a definite solution. The process however includes knowledge acquisition,
enhanced group collaboration and communication. The PBL process was initially developed for
medical education and has since been broadened in applications for other domains of learning. The
process allows for learners to develop skills used for their future practice. It enhances critical
appraisal, literature retrieval and encourages ongoing learning in a team environment.
The process uses teacher as a facilitator by supporting, guiding, and monitoring the learning
process. He builds confidence in students, and encourages them besides improving their understanding
of the problem. Students first clarify terms and define problem(s), then brainstorm, structure the
issues and formulate hypothesis and learning objectives, and finally conduct study and synthesis
the findings. Students under PBL generally
• Identify, examine and conceptualize the problem;
• Explore the elements of the problems or issues involved therein as also what do they know
about underlying issues;
• Determine as to what they need to learn and what information and tools they need to acquire
or understand to resolve the issues problem;
• Evaluate alternate ways to resolve the issues and the problem as such;
• Find the best possible solution to the problem; and
• Prepare the report
Following are the basic steps in developing a Problem Based Learning Project:
• Articulation of learning outcomes of the project i.e. what students are expected to know or
what result of participation in the assignment is anticipated?
• Creation of the problem. To make the project exciting to students the problem should be a
real-world situation or that students may encounter in their future careers or lives.
78 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

• Establishment of guidelines in the beginning itself so that students to work effectively in

groups.
• Prepare students for group processes by doing some warm up exercises that allow them to
practice assessing both their own work and that of their peers.
• Develop a design wherein each student is to take a different role or the entire project is divided
having different roles for students.
• Establish yardsticks to evaluate and assess the assignment. Ideally let students make their
own methods of assessments of their own work and that of their teammate’s of the assignment.
From the above mentioned steps it is revealed that the learning process and group dynamics are
essential components of PBL wherein students are active agents who engage in social knowledge
construction. PBL assists in processes of creating meaning and building personal interpretations of
the world based on experiences and interactions. In following sections project based learning,
research based learning, and case based learning methods are detailed.
8.3 Project Based Learning
While a single accepted definition for PBL does not exist, the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) does
offer a concise standards-focused definition, broad in scope. According to the BIE (Markham,
Larmer, & Ravitz, 2003), project-based learning is “a systematic teaching method that engages
students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured
around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks”. Implementing
a project or activity is not enough to be considered project-based learning unless five definitive
features are met. The essential features of PBL include
1. A central project;
2. A constructivist focus on important knowledge and skills;
3. A driving activity in the form of a complex question, problem, or challenge;
4. A learner-driven investigation guided by the teacher;
5. A real-world project that is authentic to the learner
Kilpatrick (1918) offered a broad conception of project method. He identified four types of projects
with procedures listed in Table 1:
Table 1

Project Type Example Process

Type 1Projects embody some Building a boat, writing a letter, or presenting a A four-step process (purposing, planning,
external idea or plan play executing, and judging)

Type 2 Projects involve enjoying an Enjoying an esthetic experience, such as No specific procedure
esthetic experience listening to a poem, hearing a symphony, or or process for Type 2 projects reported by
appreciating a painting
Kilpatrick

Type 3 Projects involve problem
solving
Interpreting the effects of war or findings of an
experiment
1) identify and define the problem,
2) determine the hypothesis or reason why the
problem exists,
3) collect and analyze data,
4) formulate conclusions, and
5) apply conclusion to the original hypothesis

Type 4 Projects involve obtaining a Learning grade-appropriate writing or purposing, planning, executing, and judging
certain items of skill or knowledge conjugation of verbs

Source: PECORE JOHN L. FROM KILPATRICK’S PROJECT METHOD TO PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, Pg 4

CEGR BOOK 79

In this chapter we have presented an emergent framework, a set of guidelines, for teachers when
designing project based courses. The framework consists of six themes:
(1) Identifying Project objectives/themes,
(2) Project Design,
(3) Constituting the project group,
(4) Monitoring,
(5) feedback and
(6) Course evaluation and improvement.
The learning and continuous improvement and process perspective is evident in the framework.
The framework elaborated in this segment should support teachers’ development of a professional
autonomy within the norms of a professional group and an active curriculum. There are strong
indications that the framework has positive effects on the quality of the courses. In a formal course
evaluation, the students’ have highlighted a clear course design, high student activity, relevant and
authentic project tasks, explicit project group work conditions, a variation in examination forms
based on an explicit set of criteria, and high quality feedback from the teachers as important
constituents of a successful project based learning. Some of the benefits of Project based learning
can be summed up as follows:
• Targets different range of learning styles
• Promotes collaboration and increased group efficacy and self efficacy
• Promotes Inquiry and results in increased motivation among students
• Reports positive student response in terms of content knowledge, critical and problem solving
skills
• Results in better academic gains with greater acceptance of responsibility
• Results in high level of student engagement
• Builds student confidence and results in better communication skills
PBL has yielded benefits not only for the students but it has proved to be an effective tool for
teachers/ instructors too. It has been proven through studies that implementation of PBL results
in reduced absenteeism in class and promotes life-long learning and let teacher have different
assessment modalities to evaluate the learning outcomes.
8.3.1 Identifying Project Objectives/Themes
The setting- up of objectives is a core aspect in a project based course. The objectives should be set
up by the teacher/instructor in consultation with the students. The students should be given some
freedom shape and frame the tasks to fit their own interests and experiences. The project objectives
should be:
• Relevant and authentic – the project task and the project outcome should be relevant in
order to achieve basic skills in the curriculum and in a future profession (e.g. as a system
developer, IT- or management consultant, project leader) and reflect authentic situations (for
example problem solving in an ERP system implementation project, or identifying the sources
of recruitment of and educational institute for a management student).
• Introduced by teachers in text and orally in order to address different learning styles.
• Based on a certain or interval space of time. It is also important to make the study points
explicit. We have identified this as an important point in order to have an influence on student
expectations of time needed to work with a particular task. Time management and plans are
also important parts of the project work setting and the student skills that the instructor
would like students to gain.
• Concrete and expressed explicitly: When making the project objectives explicit it is also
important to define the degree of process and/or product focus in the course. The instructor
should clearly define the need for making the process and product dimension
• Flexible enough to adjust to student interests and experiences.
80 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

8.3.2 Designing Students’ Project

In the overall design of a course a teacher should consider the following aspects:
• The learning objectives should be clearly stated by the teacher and known by the students.
This aspect of course design is important according to practice (student standpoints in our
project) and theory.
• The design of the course as a whole should give a stimulus to:
o Student activity.
o Take students own experiences and knowledge into account.
o Focus on a learning process and student qualifications
o An improvement of the curriculum that serves as a basis for the course.
• The course activities should stimulate thoughts and skills on a meta-cognitive level (reflection
and awareness of underlying principles and patterns in problem solving, students own thinking
and learning)
• The design of the course should, from a teacher perspective, be based upon a reflection over
the last time the course was run (if applicable) and should address the change needs addressed
at that time
• The composition of projects groups should be based on the class size and keeping in mind
the class size, the learning outcomes aimed to be achieved and finally the different learning
styles of the students. As per the research, the groups should be formed in odd numbers to
be effective. An ideal size of the group to be effective and productive is between7-9.
8.3.3 Project Monitoring and Feedback
The design of the monitoring and its organizing should be explicitly described in a course description/
syllabus and orally by the teacher together with the present marking interval. Monitoring should
be based on a predefined set of criteria (describing for example the distinguishing features of a high
quality work in terms of problem handling, analysis, conclusions etc.).The teacher should keep a
logbook over the effects, experiences of the course design and possible improvements when performing
the education activities.
An ideal monitoring should always include at least two different forms of examination in order to
address different student learning styles and reduce the risk of free riders.
• At least one examination in a course should measure an individual student’s achievement.
• Examination should be reliable, fair and impartial.
• Examination should maintain a reciprocal trust between the teacher and the student.
• Examination should be an opportunity for the students to learn more.
• Examination should be relevant compared with the present curriculum, syllabus and other
intentions expressed by the subject area.
8.3.4 Feedback
Feedback, as interpreted here, can on one hand be a part of learning and project process, for
example related to achieving certain project milestones or other deliverables, and on the other hand
be an explicit part of the teacher’s examination and communication with the student besides a
particular mark.
• The expected kind of feedback should be expressed by the teacher in the prerequisites of a
particular task.
• The point of time for feedback should always be expressed by the teacher.
• Feedback should: Be critical, make a difference, and be reflective.
• Express constructive criticism and contain positive and negative aspects of the achievement
examined.
CEGR BOOK 81

• Be qualitative in a sense that it should not only contain the expression of a particular mark.
It should contain estimation from the responsible teacher (examiner).Integrate different stages
or phases in a course
• The feedback should stimulate to a continuous dialogue between the student and the teacher
or with a student who is on the same course as a part of a learning process.
8.3.5 Project Evaluation
Project evaluation is the most important aspect of project based learning. A teacher / instructor can
consider three types of evaluation encompassing four dimensions viz. Self, peer, teacher and public
evaluation:
• Muddy card evaluation- “Muddy Cards” evaluation can be performed in the middle of the
course (student fill in cards with pros. and cons, and based on their listing are evaluated for
their efforts
• A Final evaluation performed from a teacher perspective. The students can be asked to appear
for a viva- voce exam or to write a reflective essay based on their experience for evaluation
purposes A joint action between several teachers (if permissible) in a subject area can also be
conducted.
• A self- evaluation based on a student perspective at the end of the course can also be incorporated
wherein individual presentation/ group presentations can be encouraged for a comprehensive
evaluation. Self-evaluation is an important piece of the summative evaluation because it taps
into higher-level thinking and awareness of the material, process, and final product. It makes
students think about their successes, mistakes, and goals for the next time. Choose oral or
written form, and include expectations or rubrics for this evaluation.
• Peer evaluations are unique to collaborative projects, as they facilitate a better collaborative
process because the teacher considers the student experience. We can use this information to
modify the workflow for the next project and hold students accountable for their work (effort,
constructive contributions to the team, etc.).
The input from the evaluation should serve as a basis for improvement of the present course.
8.3.6 Challenges to Project Based Learning
Though PBL is an effective mode to implement and encourage student centric education, it is
perceived to have the following challenges:
1. Lack of time for in-depth exploration of the course / subject and implement PBL
2. Adherence to district curriculum guidelines leaves little or no space for flexibility
3. Implementing the project within the University/ school schedule
4. Managing and monitoring project groups as the learning style, interest, experience of the
members vary
5. Design of authentic assessment to measure student understanding and learning outcomes
8.4 Research Based Learning
With the changing times, higher education is going through a paradigm shift, moving away from
traditional lecture bound learning to student centric education. More and more institutions of
higher learning have realized the importance of research based learning. Research based learning
is the integration of the theoretical knowledge base or theoretical knowing with the use of appropriate
data collection and analysis procedures to examine, verify or study a phenomenon or occurrence.
Activities of practicing inquiry and research are needed to develop research competences of future
professionals. Students should be involved in a learning process where the theory and practice
emerged and interconnect each other. Students also need theoretically oriented method courses and
need to work on skills like observation, interview and interpretation. Research-based teaching
implies that students carry out research in their courses independently and with an open outcome. This
form of teaching and learning focuses on the joint acquisition of new knowledge by instructors and
82 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

students. This requires lecturers to reflect on their role as teachers and learners. The intention of
research-based learning is that university academics make positive moves to help students build
strong intellectual and practical connections between research frontiers and the students’ own
learning. This helps to internalize and practice research conducts and methods, skills such as
formulating a precise question and processing and monitoring a research process. Students attain
abilities in dealing with uncertainty, independence, teamwork and organizational skills.
8.4.1 Benefits from Research Based Learning
Benefits Students can derive from research based learning include:
• Increasing Student motivation and class engagement
• Developing and enhancing students skills and capabilities including: Generic skills such as
critical and analytical thinking, information retrieval and evaluation; and problem solving
• Providing enhanced opportunities for teaching and learning approaches such as inquiry-based
and experiential methods that have been linked to positive learning outcomes for students
• Increasing students’ understanding of how their chosen discipline contributes positively to
society
• Promoting Active learning; student learn most when they are actively involved in developing
their knowledge and skills
• Finding relevance in and connections with what they are learning
• Developing a love of learning and become lifelong learners
• Developing new, necessary skills and abilities to be successful in professional and personal
life. Also valuable transferable skills such as group work, time- and resource-management
and data handling.
Educational benefits for students include:
• Working closely with a faculty mentor
• Learning about issues, methods, and leaders in students’ chosen field
• Applying concepts learned in coursework to ‘real-life’ situation
• Sharpening problems-solving skills
• Learn to read primary literature
Professional benefits for students include:
• Exploring and preparing for future careers
• Developing marketable skills
• Enhancing professional communication skills
• Collaborating with others and working effectively as part of a team
Personal benefits for students include:
• Growing as a analytical and independent thinker
• Strengthens student’ critical thinking, writing, and speaking
• Meeting challenges and demonstrating the ability to complete a project
• Discovering personal interests and increases
Potential Benefits for Instructor/ Teacher/ facilitator include:
• Builds strong student – teacher relationships: Drawing teaching and research activities closely
together supports an economy of effort between the two
• Less time spent on teaching preparation: The more research-like learning activities that can
be devised for students, the less the teacher has to concentrate on preparing a content-based
curriculum.   A switch of emphasis from teaching content to learning processes (that often
include placing more responsibility on the students) can eventually reduce preparation time.
CEGR BOOK 83

• Contributions to the research process: The more involved students are with research-like
learning, the more likely there will be dialogue between students and teachers which feeds
into research activity.
8.4.2 Framework of research-based learning
In order to face new challenges, university programs have to adapt their study programs and
methods in order to develop students’ research competences, especially those related to conduct
research projects and also to be able to transfer their knowledge and academic experiences to their
professional teaching practice. For this propose, the paradigm of “research-based education” seems
to be one of the most adequate to be implemented in the universities study proposals. Research-
based teacher education has been studied in different contexts and education levels, and has a
crucial interest in master and doctoral studies. In order to develop research competences of future
professionals, activities of practicing inquiry and research are needed as part of the study programs.
Research-based learning is a multi-faceted concept referring to a variety of learning and teaching
strategies that link research and teaching. Good framework of research-based learning may include:
• Setting research outcomes that cover the curriculum
• Extensive and Judicious use of research-process based methods of teaching and learning
• Imparting training through workshops/ tutorials to students for using the research tools
• Developing an inclusive research context (Blackmore & Fraser, 2007)
8.4.3 Strategies for incorporating research-based learning into curriculum
Following strategies provide general guidelines for incorporating research-based learning into
courses and programs. There might be an overlap between categories and some suggestions are
more appropriate in some disciplines, at some year levels and in some teaching and learning
contexts than others are. The strategies listed below give a range of options and the instructor can
tailor these to be used in particular context and student cohort.
Draw on personal research in designing and teaching courses
• Incorporate current research directly into the curriculum as the focus of an entire course.
• Refer to your own experience of tackling ‘real world’ problems in your research as illustrative
examples to help students understand ideas, concepts and theories.
• Illustrate the values, practices and ethics of your discipline by having faculty members, including
postgraduate students, discuss their current research projects.
Involve students in departmental research projects
• Give students a self-contained project within a larger project.
• Organize students to act as research assistants to higher degree research students or faculty
members.
• Organize site visits to research centres, industries
Teach research methods, techniques and skills explicitly within programs
• Develop students’ understanding of research methodologies during laboratory classes.
• Design research methodology courses that provide opportunities to apply research skills to
authentic research problems.
• Design assessment tasks within subjects that provide students with opportunities to learn
different methods and skills associated with key contemporary research issues.
Build small-scale research activities into undergraduate assignments
• Students at all levels can benefit from small-scale research activities that can often be carried
out in groups. This mirrors the research culture of working in research teams rather than
conducting individual research.
84 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

• Ask students to analyze research data from existing ‘real world’ projects.
• Provide students with a research question which requires them to conduct a small-scale literature
review, decide on methodology, gather data, write up results and reach conclusions.
Encourage students to feel part of the research culture of Departments
• Inform undergraduate students about the research interests and strengths of staff in the
Departments in which they are studying.
• Refer to colleagues’ areas of interest and achievements and, where possible, invite them to
speak to students about their work.
• Encourage undergraduate and postgraduate students to attend research seminars by visiting
scholars, give papers at conferences, and host student conferences.
Infuse teaching with the values of researchers.
• Encourage students to understand and aspire to researchers’ values such as objectivity, respect
for evidence, respect for others’ views, tolerance of ambiguity, and analytical rigour, by:
• Modeling researchers’ values in classroom interactions
• Talking about the process that researchers go through before their work is published and the
number of revisions typically involved
• Providing structured learning experiences that require students to develop these values, such
as, providing research articles presenting opposing arguments on the same topic and asking
students to analyze their validity and draw a conclusion
8.4.4 Designing learning activities around contemporary research issue
• Ask students to explore cutting-edge research problems or to suggest solutions to current
real world problems based on their knowledge of the fundamentals of the discipline. Variants
of this activity include asking students to:
• Investigate the reporting of the status of a current research question in the discipline by
comparing media reporting of a study with the official report.
• Analyze the methodology and argument presented in a journal article setting out recent research
findings.
• Conduct a small-scale literature review, leading to a conclusion about the current state of
knowledge and further questions to be addressed.
8.4.5 Teaching research methods, techniques and skills explicitly within programs
Many students at both undergraduate and graduate levels possess very weak foundations for
conducting research. This deficit makes it a challenging undertaking that can lead to frustration for
both the instructor and the student. For avoiding the problems the instructor should take into
consideration the following points.
• Develop students’ understanding of research methodologies during laboratory classes.
• Designing simulation courses for better understanding the research tasks.
• Design assessment tasks within subjects that provide students with opportunities to learn
different methods and skills associated with key contemporary research issues.
• Design research methodology courses that provide opportunities to apply research skills to
authentic research problems.
• During a class session, students may be divided into teams, and each team came up with a
set of very intuitive hypotheses, they should be encouraged to generating the question.
• The literature review step offers the instructor an opportunity to expose students to important
online archives that typically are not used in other courses, but that are essential to conducting
original research.
• Proving some hands-on knowledge to the students for different statistical software and statistical
methods.
CEGR BOOK 85
8.4.6 Building small-scale research activities
Students at all levels can benefit from small-scale research activities that can often be carried out
in groups. This mirrors the research culture of working in research teams rather than conducting
individual research. A course that stresses the “hands-on” approach should teach students how
research is conducted, but it also should require them to do the research, as a way of communicating
the importance of empiricism in the social sciences. Both instructors and students can benefit from
the small scale research activities. It gives the instructor an opportunity to integrate research with
teaching, and to inject students directly into an active research agenda. Professors are able to share
with students their experiences of trying to research a particular area. In this case, students appreciated
the frank discussions regarding the difficulties, rewards, and opportunities that they discovered
while researching authorities.
• Give assignments that let students apply methods to their own area of interest such as evaluate
published studies in their area of interest.
• Engage them with real world examples of research conducted in different areas, such as give
them a task to indentify the area of issue in their own classroom, students or their life style
issues.
• Ask students to analyze research data from existing ‘real world’ projects.
• Provide students with a research question which requires them to conduct a small-scale literature
review, decide on methodology, gather data, write up results and reach conclusions.
• Offer capstone courses that focus on a major project utilizing the research skills and disciplinary
knowledge acquired in previous semesters.
• Refer to colleagues’ areas of interest and achievements and, where possible, invite them to
speak to students about their work.
• Encourage undergraduate and postgraduate students to attend research seminars by visiting
scholars, give papers at conferences, and host student conferences.
8.4.7 Infusing research values in the students (higher degree research students)
Encourage students to understand and aspire to researchers’ values such as objectivity, respect for
evidence, respect for others’ views, tolerance of ambiguity, and analytical rigour, by:
• Modeling researchers’ values in classroom interactions
• Talking about the process that researchers go through before their work is published and the
number of revisions typically involved
• Providing structured learning experiences that require students to develop these values, such
as, providing research articles presenting opposing arguments on the same topic and asking
students to analyze their validity and draw a conclusion
Participation in undergraduate research benefits students educationally, professionally, and personally.
Educate them for about the benefits they get from doing research.
8.5 Case Based Learning
A “Case” is a problem in our usage, or a description of a situation that has actually faced a decision
maker and required his analysis and decision. In learning environment it is quite often a group
discussion exercise to find the best possible solution to the problem in the given environment. Case
discussion is more than just a pooling of experience; it is an exercise in cooperative and creative
thinking. Certainly the work of the group acting together is something more than the sum of its
individual parts. Thus it is important to bear in mind that this method of learning is based on two
equally important elements—cases and discussions.
8.5.1 Philosophy / Rationale for Use of Case
Here is an excerpt on the philosophy and / or rationale for using cases for teaching.
“Undoubtedly it would be easier for you to acquire so-called knowledge by the route of the
86 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

textbook and the lecture. The case method is the hard way. Nevertheless the case method makes
the difference between real education and merely passively acquired words and ideas. The statement
frequently is made that knowledge is power. Too frequently that is interpreted to mean that
knowledge confers power. Nothing could be less true than the passively acquired knowledge
confers any power on the recipient. The true meaning of the statement “knowledge” is power” is
that true knowledge consists of power, power to tackle a problem, break it down, sort out the facts,
see what must be done, and then get it done. In other words, real education should equip the
student not just with book learning but with power to deal with situations, particularly power to
deal with new and unfamiliar situations. Now that kind of power cannot be conferred. It has to
be acquired. It has to be acquired by painstaking personal effort. Real education is hard work. It
is a process of drawing out the student’s mind, not of pouring in the instructor’s ideas. Under the
case method you are expected to dig things out for yourself. Under the case method you play an
active rather than a passive role. The instructor does not tell you, he expects you to study the case
and tell him. Then he questions you to see whether you can logically justify the position which you
take. You will find the case method hard at the outset but it will pay dividends in the end. “(Brown
et.al 1961)
……..Because wisdom can’t be told 2
It can be said flatly that the mere act of listening to wise statements and sound advice does little
for anyone. In the process of learning, the learner’s dynamic cooperation is required, such cooperation
form students does not arise automatically, however. It has to be provided for and continually
encouraged.
It would be easy to accept the unanalyzed assumption that by passing on, by lectures and readings,
to young men of intelligence the accumulated experience and wisdom of those who have made
business their study, the desired results could be achieved. Surely, if more carefully selected young
men were to begin their business careers with the advantage of having been provided with information
and general principles which it has taken others a lifetime to acquire and develop, they might be
expected to have a decided head start over their less informed contemporaries.
Teachers, since it is their avowed objective to extend the knowledge boundaries of others, are
particularly beset by the temptation to tell what they know - - to point out right paths of thoughts
and action. The areas in which their help is called for are the once they have penetrated many times.
They have reflected, presumably, upon their subjects from all angles. They feel that they know the
answers and, with unselfish abandon, they are willing to tell all. Their students thus will be saved
all the time and effort it would have taken them to work things out for them, even granted they
ever could work out such excellent answers.
We cannot effectively use the insight and knowledge of others: it must be our own knowledge and
insight that we use…..
8.5.2 What happens to students and teachers under the case method of teaching?
The case plan of instruction may be described as democratic in distinction to the telling method,
which is in effect diametrically patriarchal. With the case method, all members of the academic
group, teacher and students, are in possession of the same basic materials into the light of which
analysis are to be made and decisions arrived at. Each therefore, has an identical opportunity to
make a contribution to the body of principles governing business practice and policy. Everyone is
on a par and everyone is in competition. The basis is provided for strong give and take both inside
and outside the classroom. The valuable art of exchanging ideas is cultivated, with the object of
building up some mutually satisfactory and superior notion. Such an exchange stimulates thought,
provides a lesson in how to learn from others, and also gives experience in effective transmission
of one’s own ideas.
For both teachers and students, the disciplines of the case method of learning are severe. Sometimes
the shock is devastating to young men who previously have been dominated by patriarchal instructors
and thus have been faced merely with the relatively simple task of more or less passive reception
CEGR BOOK 87

and verbatim repetition of facts and ideas. Not all students can bear the strain of thinking actively,
of making independent judgments which may be challenged vigorously by their contemporaries.
Many people will always prefer to have answers handed to them. Teachers, for their part, particularly
those unused to the system, sometimes find it straining to leave the safe haven of dogmatism and
meet their students on a democratic plane. The inherently dramatic and challenging character of
the case system, however, although it may produce anxiety and confusion for the newcomer, also
arouses his deep interest and leans him to make the effort required for adjustment.
Not all students can bear thinking actively, of making independent judgments which may be
challenged vigorously by their contemporaries. Many people will always prefer to have answers
handed to them. Teachers, for their part, particularly those unused to the system, sometimes find
it straining to leave the safe haven of dogmatism and meet their students on a democratic plane.
The inherently dramatic and challenging character of the case system, however, although it may
produce anxiety and confusion for the new comer, also arouses his deep interest and leans him to
make the effort required for adjustment.
8.5.3 How to Analyze and prepare a case? (David et al 1965)
There is no formula for the analysis of cases; each must be handled as a new and unique situation.
The approach that appears to be appropriate for one case is more than likely quite inappropriate
for another. There are, however, certain general procedures that can be followed in the preparation
of cases. A prerequisite to analysis of many cases is an understanding of the language of the
decision making. Each case poses issues requiring decision(s). Obviously, decisions should be based
on a sound grasp of the facts of the case. A vital first step in approaching any case, then, is to read
and read carefully the case itself. It is seldom possible to assimilate the facts in a first reading;
indeed, the first reading is useful primarily as a means of isolating leading issues and sketching
the background. A second reading is generally necessary to fill in the details.
Throughout his reading of the case, the student should be constantly asking himself: what is the
problem? What is the point (or points) on which action is required? What has caused this
situation? In many cases, the issue will be quite simple and direct; in others, it will be complex and
obscure. In many cases, what seems like the issue on first reading may upon reflection be only a
symptom of some deeper, more basic problem. This stage in the handling of a case is analogues
to the physician attempting to diagnose his patient’s illness. He develops a hypothesis by observing
a number of symptoms. In effect, the student here is doing the same. As in a medical case, this stage
of diagnosis is crucial, for it is on the diagnosis of the problem that recommendations for action
will depend. Skill in diagnosis seldom from reading textbooks: it comes from repeated observation
of actual cases.
Having diagnosed the central problem and its likely causes, the student is generally faced with
several alterative courses of action; it is frequently useful at this stage to make a complete listing
of all the possible courses of action. Then each may be considered individually, and the implications
and likely results examined. In this process, the effects of each action, not only upon the internal
operations of the firm, but upon consumers, competitors, and the economy as a whole, should be
carefully weighed. Some alternatives may then be quickly eliminated from further consideration.
The case has now been read, diagnosed, and alternatives considered. Let us, suppose that this
procedure has succeeded in reducing the feasible alternatives to two or three in number, all fairly
evenly balanced. It may be useful at this point to break down the central problem into a series of
questions which requires answers before any definite decisions can be made.
At many points, no definite answers will be forthcoming in response to questions. Often there will
not be sufficient information in the case to enable the student to answer the questions. While this
may prove frustration, the student should realize that the same situation is often the case in
business itself. The vast majority of decisions are made on the basis of incomplete information. They
must make informed guesses, or even play hunches.
88 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

8.5.4 What is expected in the Classroom? (David et al 1965)

While there are undoubted rewards from individual study of cases, the give and take of the
classroom brings the case method to true fruition. Some students will find this the most difficult
step of all; some who are most brilliant in their individual work become quite ineffective when
called on to present and defend their thinking before others. The reverse is also true, of course.
Presumably, most of the readers are here because they plan to enter a management career. Management
is not carried on in a vacuum; it is run by people for people. The ability to communicate with others
and to work with others stands high on the list of qualities necessary for effective management.
The case method if used in class provides an experience in learning to listen to the views of one’s
gears and in learning how to express one’s self and perhaps to persuade others to one’s point of
view. The method provides an opportunity to gain confidence in one’s own judgment, but also a
degree of humility as well. It also provides a most invaluable opportunity to learn how far one can
go by rigorous logical analysis of one or another dimension of the problem and the extent to which
judgment comes into play when many factors which have no common denominator must be
weighed.5
8.5.5 Limitations of Case Method: (Malcolm 1954)
The case method, however, has its disadvantages. First, progress in developing administrative
skills is slow, and student and teacher alike feel thwarted, especially in the early months, when the
student first comes into contact with the case method and is seeking to comprehend his changed
position and responsibilities under the case method of instruction.
Secondly, the case method as applied to instruction assumes a basic knowledge of facts as well as
a maturity - - a readiness for acceptance of responsibility- - that, if the results are to be realistic,
puts a lower limit to the youthfulness of the student.
A more important limitation of the case method is that it oversimplifies the problem situation.
Recognition of a problem is simplified because the areas to be searched are limited by the case itself,
a condition not typical of business. Furthermore, the factors involved and much of the information
needed for analysis and planning have been incorporated in the case by the case writer; whereas
in the business situation, deciding what information is required and getting it (if it is available with
an appropriate expenditure of effort) are an important part of the task of the administrator.
Another important limitation of the case method is that it cannot synthesize the whole administrative
process. After analysis is completed and plans have been laid, there is the actual carrying-out
process, the daily supervision of details on a face-to-face level, and the checking up on results, in
operation for which the case method can be of limited help.
8.6 Summary
In this new professional culture, adapted to a changing society, higher education is experiencing
a continuous transformation. Thus, it has become imperative for educators/ instructors to think
beyond the traditional lecture bound learning. Education professionals ought to be researchers and
knowledge users to be able to think thoroughly upon their own professional needs and upon the
new topics arising in their professional field. And thus problem, project, and research based
learning facilitate a shift from a passive to an active learning enabling educators and students to
become aware of how complex their field is and to understand that this field should meet the social,
cultural, historical, philosophical, and psychological context shaping it. Teachers should become
researchers of their own professional practice, in order to give thrive successfully. For this propose,
university programs have to adapt their study programs and methods in order to develop both
students/ teachers’ research competences, especially those related to conduct research projects and
also to be able to transfer their knowledge and academic experiences to their professional practice.
The current chapter has gone into details about alternate learning models to class based teaching
viz., problem based learning, project based learning, research based learning and case based learning.
Process involved in, cautions to be exercised, and benefits accrued from these methods have been
described.
CEGR BOOK 89

8.7 Key terms with Definition

Problem based Learning: Problem based Learning is a student-centered approach in which students
are made to learn a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. The problem
is what drives the motivation and the learning.
Project based Learning: Project based Learning is “a systematic teaching method that engages
students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around
complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks”
Research based learning: Research-based teaching means that students carry out experiments/
research in their courses independently and with an open outcome. This form of teaching
and learning focuses on the joint acquisition of new knowledge by lecturers and students.
Case based Learning: Case based Learning is a systematic group discussion exercise to find the best
possible solution to the problem in the given environment. It is more than just a pooling of
experience; it is an exercise in cooperative and creative thinking.
8.8 Review Questions
1. What do you understand by Problem based learning? Why do you think it is important for
instructor/ teacher to encourage this type of learning among students?
2. What is Project based learning? How is it different form the traditional classroom learning?
What is its relevance in today’s dynamic business world?
3. Describe various challenges confronted in project based learning; suggest means to overcome
these hurdles as instructor/ facilitator?
4. What do you understand by research based learning? Explain with few examples.
5. In your opinion why it is important to initiate research based learning in the classroom.
6. What area the benefits of teaching through research to the instructor as well as student, explain.
7. What do you understand by case based learning? What are the different life skills/ employability
skills of students can be explored through this type of learning?
8.9 Case Study
Entrepreneurship: A Case
When Deepak Joshi was 17 years old, he sampled ice cream at a store and thought that he could
make it better. He made his own recipe and began selling ice cream bars, cones, and cups in his
hometown of Belgaum. People began asking him for more. Deepak got himself trained at Mysore
and developed skills to prepare ice creams of different flavours and compositions. Using meager
profits and his mother’s kitchen, Deepak Joshi began making large batches of ice creams. He then
designed his own wrappers and developed a commission system for friends who sold ice creams
at several schools.
Business was so good that it became an obsession. Deepak worked after college, weekends, and
holidays and aside from a brief period when the health department suspended his operations until
he obtained proper permits to make ice cream, he made different types of ice cream by trying his
own methods until he graduated from college. At first, he could meet the demand without purchasing
special equipment or sacrificing other activities, but when he began providing ice creams for college
fund raising events and fun fairs, demand exceeded capacity, and Deepak found himself buying
professional equipment, hiring helpers, and purchasing bulk supplies.
Looking back, Deepak recalled the obsession, the long hours, and the drive to learn about business.
Deepak set about placing orders with local stores and developing contracts with dozens of schools,
colleges, caterers, hotels, and civic organizations. His business soon consumed his entire family and
closest friends; he registered the company and set up an ice cream parlour. During the first month,
he has 18,000 orders, and by the time he graduated, Deepak was distributing specialty ice creams
to retail stores in three States.
90 Higher Education Faculty Career Orientation and Advancement

At the age of 26, Deepak repositioned his company as a major distributor of specialty ice creams
and began planning a chain of upscale ice cream parlours which would complement his current
ice cream manufacturing and distribution system. When he paused to think about his plans, he
realized that to launch a regional or national chain would mean major changes in his organization.
He and his family should not handle all the responsibilities, and the nature of Deepak’s ice cream
business would change. Though the idea of pursuing a major business was exciting, Deepak would
not help feeling apprehensive.
Reflecting upon his business, Deepak realized that many people considered his success to be no
more than the luck of a personable young man who made good ice creams and accidentally
stumbled upon a few good markets. In fact, he had worked extremely hard to attract clients. Most
of his customers had not been comfortable buying from a young college student, and customers
seldom took him seriously until they had dealt with him for a long time. Winning over customers
had always been a challenge to Deepak, not a roadblock, and creating unusual ice creams had been
exciting.
He was not anxious to become a corporate manager, and although he had always worked well with
others, Deepak liked being independent. Running a company would mean sacrificing his autonomy,
yet the idea of a chain of stores selling his specialty ice creams had been a dream for years. At the
same time, expansion would mean financial risk, and Deepak had always avoided debt; he dealt
in cash and had always carefully calculated his expenses to avoid even the slightest loss. He
realized that he was at a major crossroad in his young career. The choice seemed to be whether
to follow his dream and expand or to be content with his existing business.
Questions for Case Study
1. Identify the entrepreneurial characteristics of Deepak Joshi. How do they match the
characteristics described for successful entrepreneurs?
2. Take a position regarding the decision facing Deepak on whether to expand into a chain of
ice cream parlours.
3. Based on what you know about Deepak and what you believe his characteristics to be, would
say his success was due to luck or persistence? Explain.
4. How does luck play a role in any business venture?
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