Case Studies Program - Teachers' Information
For Teachers: Why we use Case Studies...
IPAC has prepared manuals for instructors to help in teaching our cases and they are distributed free of charge to accredited teachers. To order a copy, please email Ms. Rosalie McKenzie @ rmckenzie@ipac.ca.
To order desk copies of IPAC Case studies, please email rmckenzie@ipac.ca
IPAC Cases have been designed to be employed in a wide range of University, College and even in some Secondary School courses. As well, many have been developed as part of executive development programmes. From Introductory courses in Canadian Government and Politics, Public Administration, Economics, Business Administration, Comparative Politics, Public Policy to senior courses in Financial Management, Human Resources Management, Quantitative Policy Analysis to Graduate courses in Applied Policy Analysis, Decision Making, Risk Taking and Managerial Enhancement, the four Series of Cases and Simulations offer challenging opportunities for students and instructors alike. And, for the practitioner, the series offer enormous opportunities for staff development through problem solving, and inter-active simulations.
Ironically, most people who teach almost unconsciously employ a "Case Method". Anecdotes, examples, recollections, illustrations..."I can remember when..." are forms of Case Method teaching. The essential difference between, for example, an anecdote and a formal Case is that Cases and Simulations are designed to be interactive and structured--that is, they are designed to encourage learning "by doing". Whether one is involved in teaching a full fledged university or college or even high school course or if one is engaged in a short-term training course or programme, "cases" in some form or another are an essential ingredient for effective learning.
Cases can offer you the opportunity to observe your students in an effective and productive context. Cases and Simulations can make learning a more enjoyable experience both for the students and for yourself. Cases help students to utilise their intellectual and interpersonal skills by solving actual problems and working with others in a simulated actual context!
What are Cases and Simulations?
Cases and Simulations, if not absolutely factual, are 'more-or-less' factual: they are representations of situations which real public administrators have faced. They may duplicate the circumstances of a real situation or they may have been altered in order to introduce additional factors, to create added tension, to introduce some "red-herrings", to lead students into some dead-ends, to candidly explore the interface of politics and administration, to raise ethical and even moral challenges, to pose policy dilemmas and offer apparently insoluble problems.
By modelling or recreating reality, Cases and Simulations challenge students to undertake that which all instructors want students to do the very most -- that is, to challenge students to think and to exercise their critical judgment!
Some Advantages...
Integrating Cases and Simulations into your regular course can offer numerous advantages...
VARIETY--Cases and Simulations permit you to vary teaching styles...if variety is a spice...then your classroom can become much more interesting for students;
EFFECTIVENESS--Cases and Simulations encourage much more effective student learning both because they are experiential and because they are interactive--students learn from each other;
REALITY--Cases and Simulations permit you to adapt a course or segment of a course to real situations where risk, judgement and personal or collective values come into play;
FLEXIBILITY--Cases and Simulations are flexible...you can usually adapt them slightly to suit your particular needs or time available--they are usually a fairly flexible teaching tool;
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT--Cases and Simulations encourage integrated thought and analysis and help develop communication skills;
COMPREHENSION--Cases and Simulations encourage students to develop shared understandings of the complexities of public life be it political, policy or administrative;
EXPERIENCE--Cases and Simulations are the classroom's answer to the inevitable problem of 'providing hands-on experience; and,
SELF-LEARNING--Cases and Simulations actually can make your life much more pleasant because, once launched, students almost invariably will carry the momentum as they 'learn while doing' and this will give you the opportunity to observe your students.
Whether you want to incorporate a role playing simulation in crisis management or on labour relations into your course or apolitical-administrative conflict, an ethical challenge or a policy dilemma, the Case Programme offers immense opportunities. Your students can be tested to their intellectual and skill limits through cases and simulations.
Why not try some cases...?
You are cordially invited to consider the initial use or even the expanded use of IPAC cases in your courses or training and development programmes. Plan ahead, integrate them into your courses as part of regular assignments or as a component of your normal lecture or seminar schedule. Link theory to practice by offering one-day courses with theory and then a practical case or simulation. Try one or two Cases or Simulations and experience both the sheer enjoyment of student learning and/or professional development and, while you are at it, your own personal satisfaction at a job extremely well done.
To Order Cases and view Catalogue
Cases are reasonably priced:
$5.00 for single copies;
$3.75 for quantities up to 49 copies;
$3.00 for quantities in excess of 50 copies.
In addition, IPAC offers a binding service to collate the cases you wish to explore. It is possible to "mix and match" cases to suit your individual classroom requirements. Under some circumstances, permission can be extended to you reproduce cases for classroom use.
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