facilitating case study discussion

5 Tips to Get Your Case Class Talking

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Case Teaching
Classroom Management
Student Engagement

A productive case class—one that is truly transformative for students—relies heavily on rich and lively conversation.

But getting students to participate in case discussions can be difficult. Perhaps students are too timid, or they worry about giving a wrong answer, or they don’t understand the questions being asked. Whatever the reason, educators can take the initiative to ensure their class’s case discussions are robust and effective.

Here are five strategies, shared by experienced case teachers, to set you on the right path to leading successful case discussions.

1. Ask the right opening question

The opening question is key to a productive, valuable case discussion. It sets the first impression, establishes a tone, and determines the direction for the entire conversation that follows.

The ideal opening question, according to Bentley University professor Bill Schiano , should be:

Immersive. Use the opening question to draw students into the story and help them embrace their role, whether it’s as a CEO, board member, or outside consultant. An immersive opening question could be, “You are [the protagonist] on [the date of the case]. What will you do today?” or “How did [the protagonist] end up in this situation?”

Clear. Craft a clear, concise opening question. To ward off confusion, avoid compound sentences that ask students multiple questions. Instead, ask a focused question so that students understand what they should be answering.

Delivered as planned. Avoid the impulse to begin with a lengthy preamble or to rephrase the question when you don’t get an immediate response. This can drain energy from the room and confuse students. Instead, ask your question as scripted, adhere to it exactly, then take a deep breath and wait at least 15 or 30 seconds. Students often need that time to come up with a good response to a thoughtful question.

For more tips on how to nail your opening question, read the Inspiring Minds article “ The Perfect Opening Question .”

2. Use AI to help brainstorm engaging discussion questions

If you’re stuck or looking for inspiration, generative AI tools (like ChatGPT) can be a helpful brainstorming aide when trying to craft a perfect opening question or prepare engaging follow-ups. You likely won’t love everything the AI generates, but it can provide useful supplements to questions you already have or help you create more, according to Harvard Business School professor Mitchell Weiss .

“Craft a clear, concise opening question. To ward off confusion, avoid compound sentences that ask students multiple questions.” Bill Schiano

As an example, here is a prompt Weiss gave ChatGPT about a case he wrote and often teaches. (He did not upload any copyrighted material, including the case itself.)

“I am a business school professor. I would like your help drafting some potential questions for a session I teach by the case method. The case I use for the session is on TraceTogether, an app developed in Singapore during COVID-19 to do digital contact tracing. The case protagonist is Jason Bay, a leader at GovTech Singapore, the digital transformation agency of Singapore’s government. Key passages in the case cover the debate over these apps and whether they should have government officials ‘in the loop’ or ‘out of the loop’ to further protect user privacy. Suggest 10 questions I might ask related to these passages, please.”

When writing a similar prompt for your own course, remember to include the following:

Who you are and what your goals are for the case discussion

Essential information about the case, including who the protagonist is and what key concepts are covered

Clear instructions about the exact output you want

For more tips on how generative AI can help you plan more thoughtful case discussions, read the Inspiring Minds article “ Elevate Your Case Prep with ChatGPT .”

3. Cold-call without adding unnecessary stress

Even if carefully crafted, the opening question can still be met with complete silence. Many educators lean on cold calling to get the conversation rolling, but this can be daunting to students.

Here are some ways to cold-call successfully without overly stressing out your class.

Ease students into it. Before you start cold-calling, try warming up the class with simple, encouraging questions, such as ones that begin with “Raise your hand if you . . .” You’ll find that more students will chime in, and it will help prepare them to answer more thought-provoking questions later, say Gies College of Business professors Hayden Noel and Maria Rodas . In online classes, don’t forget to keep an eye on the chat. You may find that your reticent students have posted thoughtful contributions there. Prompt them to share or incorporate their views into the conversation.

Offer help. When you do start to cold-call and a student is struggling to answer your question, try outlining ways you can work together to break down the problem, suggests Bryant University professor Michael Roberto . You could also call on other students to “help them out.” These approaches not only teach students how to structure their analysis, but also train them not to fear cold calls.

“Try warming up the class with simple, encouraging questions before you start cold-calling, such as ones that begin with ‘Raise your hand if you . . .’” Hayden Noel and Maria Rodas

Build on every contribution. Rather than dismissing a student’s comment after a cold call that is not focused on the issue you want to discuss and asking them to try again—which can be discouraging and make students less likely to contribute—Roberto suggests you try connecting two classmates’ ideas to find commonality. This encourages students to work together and speak more freely, making cold-calling less daunting.

For more tips on how to effectively cold-call, read the Inspiring Minds article “ The Art of Cold Calling .”

4. Honor students’ contributions while helping them stay on track

When students do start chiming in, their contributions may be disjointed, especially if discussing a complex case, says Schiano . Yet if you dismiss students’ comments outright, you might be shutting down some of their best opportunities for learning and engagement.

Here are Schiano’s suggestions for getting your students on the same page while still ensuring they feel ownership of the discussion.

Refocus their comments with follow-up questions. This tactic can escalate from subtle clarifying questions such as, “Can you expand on that?” to directly asking, “How does that relate to X topic?”

Use the board. If you stand next to a board that’s labeled with headings (“Opportunities” and “Threats,” for example), but otherwise blank, students will likely take the hint and focus on those labels. Write off-point comments on a separate board or section of the board to subtly show students when they’re off track.

“If you dismiss students’ comments outright, you might be shutting down some of their best opportunities for learning and engagement.” Bill Schiano

Pause and reframe the question. If students’ comments have really gone far afield, it’s helpful to summarize the relevant parts of the discussion thus far. You can either let students know when any unrelated points might be addressed or omit them entirely, signaling that they were off point.

For more tips on how to manage a case discussion that goes awry, read the Inspiring Minds article “ Managing a Case Discussion That Goes Awry .”

5. Provide multiple avenues for discussion

In case classes, particularly large ones, students may feel lost and hold back their observations. To overcome this barrier, Noel and Rodas suggest a small-medium-large approach, in which students are given opportunities to interact on a progressing scale.

Small scale. Ask students to discuss the case in small groups so they can talk among themselves and warm up. (If teaching online, put them in breakout rooms.)

Medium scale. Split the class in two, with those small groups remaining intact. Try to visit each of these groups to ensure a fruitful discussion is developing.

Large scale. Bring the whole class back together to summarize the case and highlight the best points that were made across both groups.

Noel and Rodas find that the full-group discussions are substantially richer because of the work done in the smaller sections—students are more engaged with the material, having had an opportunity to work through it with their peers.

For more tips on navigating large case discussions, read the Inspiring Minds article “ Strategies for Teaching Large Case Classes Online .”

Rethinking your approach to case discussions

As the facilitator of a case discussion, your role is to constantly re-examine your approach and make adjustments that will bring students into the conversation. When you do, and when your students are actively and thoughtfully participating in case discussions, the true power of the method emerges: classrooms buzz with energy, students are deeply engaged, and their learning increases tremendously.

The above suggestions are a great place to start. You can also dig into this topic more deeply with our full collection of case teaching articles .

Bill Schiano is a professor of computer information systems at Bentley University. He teaches both managerial and technical courses exclusively using discussion and the case method and has done so in online and hybrid formats. Bill regularly facilitates the web-based seminar Teaching with Cases Online .

Mitchell Weiss is the Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice and chair of the MBA Required Curriculum at Harvard Business School.

Hayden Noel is a clinical associate professor of business administration at Gies College of Business. He began his career at the University of Illinois in 2007 as a visiting assistant professor before serving from 2009-2015 as an assistant professor and from 2015-2019 as a clinical assistant professor. His research interests include consumer information processing and memory, and he was named iMBA Professor of the Year in 2019.

Maria Rodas is an assistant professor of business administration and Shebik Centennial Fellow at Gies College of Business. Prior to receiving her PhD from the University of Minnesota, she received an MBA from Columbia University and spent a decade working in management consulting and in the consumer packaged goods industry.

Michael Roberto is the Trustee Professor of Management and the director of the Center for Program Innovation at Bryant University. He joined the tenured faculty at Bryant after serving for six years on the faculty at Harvard Business School.

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