Case Studies and the “Ah? Ha!

”
Teachable Moment Pedagogy in
Extension and the Classroom
Forrest Stegelin
Agricultural and Applied Economics
University of Georgia

WERA-72, Agribusiness
Competiveness and Profitability
Purdue University, June 24–26, 2012
 Objectives of This Session:
 Understand differences in learning and reasoning style
patterns or abilities among students and clientele.

 Recognize the role(s) a case may play in developing

interaction among students and instructor, or clientele and
specialist.

 Define and articulate the characteristics of a strong case.

 Apply the seven-step approach in analyzing a case.

 Communicate the teachable moments and learning benefits

expected from completing a case analysis.
 Comparison of Concrete and Formal
Reasoning Patterns
Concrete Formal
Students require objects, events, Students can reason abstractly
or actions for logical reasoning. without reference to concrete
objects, events, or actions.

Conservation, class inclusion, Theoretical, propositional,

ordering, and reversibility are hypothetical, and combinatorial
characteristic reasoning patterns. reasoning patterns are
characteristic.

Students are unaware of Students are aware of

inconsistencies and mistakes in inconsistencies and mistakes due
reasoning. to the use of mental checks and
balances – reflective thought.
 Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory
 A “helix of learning” developed around experiential learning,
involving four steps:
◦ Concrete experience – experience-based (being directly involved)
◦ Reflective observation – observation-based (watching) impartial
approach
◦ Abstract conceptualization – conceptually-based, analytic
approach
◦ Active experimentation – action-based, practical applications
approach

 Based on an individual’s strength of learning style preference

for the four steps, fit into a category:
◦ Convergers
◦ Divergers
◦ Assimilators
◦ Accommodators
 Why a case study?
 Case studies have proven to be effective pedagogical tools for
undergraduate, graduate, and continuing or public service
education audiences in the curriculum areas that require
problem-solving and decision-making skills, statistical
analysis, and management sciences.

 Applicable for a course or workshop that is decision- and

action-oriented, integrated in both form and pedagogy within
a curriculum or focus, and managerially exciting, moving
away from traditional technique-driven, compartmentalized,
lecture methods course.

 Methodologies of decision and risk analysis, probability and

statistics, competitive analysis, and management science are
integrated with personal judgment, intuition, and common
sense in a way that is meaningful to student and
executive learners alike.
Students’/clients’ roles and responsibilities:
 In the case method as a teaching strategy, transfers
responsibility for learning from teacher to student or client,
whose role shifts from passive absorption toward active
construction.

 Through careful examination and discussion, students and

clientele learn to identify actual problems and to articulate
them so as to become aware of those aspects of a situation
that contribute to the problem.

 Along the way students and clientele develop the power to

analyze and to master a tangled circumstance by identifying
and delineating important factors – the ability to utilize
ideas, to test them against facts, and to throw them into
fresh combinations.
 Just what is a case?
 A variety of roles in a course –

◦ focused on understanding core tools and concepts,

◦ on applying methodology appropriately,
◦ on defining the limits of good practice,
◦ on inventing new methods and adapting existing ones for the
problem at hand.

 Forms of cases –

◦ highly structured, focusing on a single issue, with needed data

laid out;
◦ appraisal cases where analysis is partly or wholly done;
◦ unstructured, with multiple issues and data challenges (missing
or incomplete data, choices among data, or data preparation
needed).
 Cases often selected for use depending on the goals
and/or objectives of the investigator or instructor.

 Types of case study –

◦ illustrative case studies (primarily descriptive),

◦ exploratory case studies (pilot or condensed studies

performed before implementing a large scale investigation),
◦
◦ cumulative case studies (serving to aggregate information),

◦ critical instance case studies (examining a situation of

unique interest – answering cause and effect questions).
What makes a strong case?
 A leading characteristic is a decision orientation with
teachable moments.

 Relevancy is key, that the resolution of the situation

matters.

 Issues of external validity, construct validity, and

reliability need to also be carefully considered.

 A strong case demonstrates a need to know something

not currently known – involves practice of skills and
requires some internalization of concepts and the
articulation of the reasoning process.
Advantages to using the case study
approach to problem-solving and decision-
making are two-fold:
 Case study approach is a comparatively flexible method
of scientific research because it emphasizes exploration
rather than prescription or prediction.

 Case study approach gives research results a more

human face.
Disadvantages of case studies are three-
fold:

 Inherent subjectivity whereby the approach relies on

personal interpretation of data and inferences;

 High investment in time and thinking; and

 Ethical considerations, namely the personal integrity,

sensitivity, and possible prejudices and/or biases of the
investigators need to be taken into consideration.
An organized seven step approach to
analyzing a case makes the entire process
easier and increases learning benefits.
1. Read the case thoroughly;

2. Define the central issue;

3. Define the firm’s goals;

4. Identify the constraints of the problem;

5. Identify all the relevant alternatives;

6. Select the best alternative; and

7. Develop an implementation plan.

 How I Use Case Studies for Teaching
and Extension
 Relatively short (2- 5 pages) with a teachable moment for
understanding core tools and concepts. Individual activity
with approximately 60 students/class; in extension, makes
for developing problem solving skills for a problem
complementary to client’s reality.

 In management classes, distribute on Monday to be turned in

on Wednesday, and graded/returned and discussed on Friday.
In extension, given as working lunch assignment or walk-
through discussion, so client can identify and solve own
problems on own time.

 In classroom setting, use as graded alternative to quizzes

[give case and quiz on alternating weeks].
 Example or practice session case,
Freemark Abbey Winery, uses subjective
assessment from data and analytical
distributions to address and answers a
vintner and winery owner’s dilemma:

 Should we harvest our grapes immediately,

before the forecast rainstorm, or leave them
on the vines despite the approaching storm?
1. Read the case thoroughly.
 Take a few minutes to read the one-page case and
take any notes or highlight and underscore any
facts thought to be relevant to the problem.
2. Define the central issue.
 Different wines are possible, with different market
prices, and different wines are produced if grower
harvests immediately, or waits to see if rains and if
doesn’t rain, and then waits for maturity of grapes.

 What should we do with the grapes (harvest or

wait)? Production costs are sunk, and differences
in processing costs are negligible.
3. Define the firm’s goals.
 Revenue = Price x Quantity

 Which choice (harvest before the storm or wait and

see) gives highest expected price? [Focus on price,
even if quantities (yields, concentration levels) may
vary.]
4. Identify the constraints of the problem.
 Harvest immediately:

 Wait and see, and experience rains:

 Wait and see with no storm, so wait for grape

maturity:
 5. Identify all the relevant alternatives.
Harvest immediately:
bottled wine (100%) - $2.85;
bulk wine (100%) or bulk grapes (100%) - $1.00 equivalent
bottle

Wait and see:

storm – botrytised (mold) (40%) - $8.00 or weak and thin
concentration (60%) - $2.00

Wait and see:

no storm (wait for maturity) – sugars >25% (35%) [$3.50];
sugars 20-25% (35%) [$3.00]; sugars <20% (10%) [$2.50]
or acidity <0.7% (20%) [$2.50]
6. Select the best alternative.
 Which choice [harvest immediately or wait] gives
highest expected average price?
7. Develop an implementation plan.
 Consider the probabilities of each occurrence, with
100% total probabilities for each occurrence.

 Multiply the expected wholesale price per bottle

times the percentages of occurrence to get
weighted average expected price.
A possible and plausible solution:
 Calculate the expected weighted average price per
750 ml bottle for immediate harvesting versus the
probable outcomes of the 50 – 50 chance of rain.
Possible Scenario with Pricing
Wholesale Weighted
Price Price
Bottled (100%) 2.852.85
Harvest Bulk Wine (100%) 1.00 equiv. 1.00 equiv.
Now Bulk Grapes (100%) 1.00 equiv. 1.00 equiv.
Harvest Immediately $2.85

Botrytised (40%) 8.00 (30% ↓ yield) 1.60

Storm (50%)

Weak/Thin (60%) 2.00 .60

100% wait & see; storms

>25% (35%) 3.50 .61

Sugars 20-25% (35%)3.00 .52
Wait & See No Storm (50%) <20% (10%) 2.50 .12
(wait for maturity) Acidity
<0.7 (20%) 2.50 .25
100% wait & see; maturity $3.20
Thank you for your attention, interest,
and participation. (Sorry, no samples.)