In this paper I have shared some of my experiences on how to handle case studies in teaching with the intent to facilitate more discussions during our meeting over the two day conference on “research informed teaching” at Samtse College of Education organized by the Royal University of Bhutan in October 2014. We know that case studies are stories used as knowledge and skill transfer vehicles by which a lot of real life scenario is brought into the classroom to be discussed by the students and instructors. How we use case studies dependsuponthe objectives and the format of the course. My experience suggest that if it is a regular university dictated course with astrict timetable (one hour period everyday per subject) with pre-identified contents and has a large class size,it is not normally possible or at least not meaningfully efficient to go beyond the use ofsimple cases that will only help to illustrate the subject concepts and demonstrate afew practical aspects. However, if t...

The case study is a research method which generally falls into the broader category of qualitative research. It is largely employed by an array of social sciences such as psychology, anthropology, education and health studies and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Even though the subjects of research, or ‘cases’, may differ between disciplines, there are certain strengths, weaknesses and limitations to case studies that can be summarised to provide a general overview of the method. In my essay, I will explore the characteristics of the case study and link them to examples of the previously documented cases. I will focus mainly on the fields of anthropology and STS as two disciplines that have made case studies their main research tool. In doing so I aim to demonstrate the ways that case studies can be a useful tool in a social scientist’s arsenal.

This case study is aimed at providing the tourism academic community and students with research information on the five-year tourism plan proposed by the government of Bolivia for its analysis and critique. The article describes Bolivia’s five-year plan proposed by the government to improve the effect of tourism on the country’s economy and asks students to critique the plan following the theories of C.A. Gunn and V.T.C. Middleton and R. Hawkins. A detailed Teaching Note is available from the author.

Case studies are a common teaching and learning tool within entrepreneurship and its parent discipline, business, as a method of bringing the nuances of realism to complex theoretical problems. However, within the arts entrepreneurship field, they are used less frequently for pedagogical purposes and often with hesitation. Consequently, in this guide to the Case Study Edition, I aim to briefly: provide a rationale for using case studies in arts entrepreneurship education; illustrate what makes a good case study; highlight the mechanics of writing case studies by clearly outlining the expectations of a submission to JAEE for both traditional research cases and teaching cases; summarize the cases within this special issue and highlight why they demonstrate best practice example cases.