Assistant Professor Gyan Gupta found it hard to teach cases to his students. For one, his students were used to having lectures, thus, they find it hard to discuss cases. Also, his students rely on the Internet on finding out how managerial dilemmas are dealt with. And finally, as a doctoral student, Professor Gupta aims to impart to his students the theory he learned but cannot find the right method of incorporating this theory into the discussion.
Dorothy Leonard, Susan S. Harmeling
Harvard Business School (912406-PDF-ENG)
Jul 13, 2011 (Revision: May 12, 2014)
Case questions answered:
- How to conduct a case discussion when the students are accustomed to lectures?
- Should the use of the Internet to discover the outcome of managerial dilemmas posed in the case be allowed?
- How do you decide on the appropriate way to integrate theory into the case-based discussion?
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Assistant Professor Gyan Gupta and the Wet Noodle Class (A) Case Answers
Case synopsis:
This case is about the dilemma faced by Assistant Professor Gyan Gupta at the Miller School of Business regarding the teaching practices he should follow to make his MBA students well-equipped with the courses dealt with in the class, whether it is the lectures or the case discussions.
Gupta talks about how he was taught when he was a student and talks about his professor, Elton, who used cases almost exclusively. Gupta believed that cases were especially helpful if the professor had prior experiences as an entrepreneur or angel investor.
Gupta was asked to teach the Entrepreneurship course when Elton had to retire suddenly because of ill health. Gupta believed that he would make up for his lack of practical experience by exposing himself to the rich bodies of theory. However, this didn’t happen.
Assistant Professor Gyan Gupta started the term with the case, but the students at Miller were accustomed to lecture mode, and he couldn’t stimulate a good discussion. Most class members remained silent, and very few of the students participated. In the following classes, very few students showed interest in the case discussions.
The case discussion on the Home Watcher, which produced a web-based home maintenance program, went worse when his student opened the case, announcing her internet search, and shared that the company was growing well. With this, Gupta’s plan of stimulating the debate on the business strategy was excluded.
The students thought that the case discussion was overlooked by Gupta for the lecture discussion, but Gupta had not prepared a lecture for that day. So, Gupta thought of sharing some issues on confirmation bias, which was demonstrated by the entrepreneur of Home Watcher. Assistant Professor Gyan Gupta tried to get his class to see the bias by asking his students to evaluate the survey questions, but no one seemed interested in this either.
As he prepared for the rest of the term, he was deeply confused about how to manage several issues: the lack of student experience with case discussion, student use of the internet in case preparation, and the role of theory in case-based class entrepreneurship where the managerial practice was so important. Gupta decided to take advice from the experienced instructors regarding the use of the Internet in the case preparation.
The case ends with Gupta’s dilemma on introducing theory into the course and making his students learn more by using real-world experiences, i.e., case-based discussions.
Issues:
Major issues of the case include:
- How to conduct a case discussion when the students are accustomed to lectures?
- Should the Internet use to discover the outcome of managerial dilemmas posed in the case be allowed?
- How do you decide on the appropriate way to integrate theory into the case-based discussion?
Analysis:
The class members were accustomed to lectures rather than case-based discussions. Even though the students read the case, they didn’t consider its analysis in depth.
Most of the students remained silent during the case discussions, and even if they spoke, they simply spoke whatever was in their minds with no attempt to connect to what others already said. The internet also hampered the case discussion session as the students were well known about the context outside of the actual case.
The dilemma always existed whether the use of the internet should be permitted or not. Assistant Professor Gyan Gupta was facing trouble applying managerial theory in a case-based discussion to make their students familiar with real-world experiences.
These issues existed because of the theoretical way of learning without any or very few practical issues. Since the decades, students have been evaluated on how many marks they obtained rather than how much they have learned.
As a result, it’s obvious for a student to be accustomed to lectures rather than out-of-course syllabus case-based discussions. Unless and until the students are well trained in managerial practices, it will be very difficult for them to work later on as the real world is far different than what we have studied.
Most of the courses are dependent upon the theories developed centuries ago, so how could the students learn about the current scenarios?
The professor, students, and the administration are responsible for all these issues, and they need to solve these issues through their respective efforts.
Recommendation and Conclusion:
The way of teaching and learning processes should be changed in almost every aspect. Practical issues should be discussed concerning the supporting theories.
Theories should be used as references for discussions rather than making theories a base for the entire discussion. More of the practical-oriented case discussions should be provided by the professor, including Assistant Professor Gyan Gupta.
The world is dynamic, and so many things are happening in fractions of seconds, so these real-world issues should be presented in the course syllabus and case-based discussions.
As a result, students get to know lots of issues about the world where he/she lives, and it will help them make relevant decisions in the future as an entrepreneur or manager.
The use of the internet has been so rigorous that it’s very difficult to spend a day without its use. The dilemma of using the internet in case discussions can be solved by setting out a policy in the syllabus itself.
The course syllabus should be revised time and again, and more cases and practical issues should be added. The teaching-learning process should be a two-way interactive session rather than only the professor speaking on what issues he had prepared for. Students’ active participation should be encouraged in case discussions.
They should be encouraged to read as well as understand the case in depth. Listening skills should be learned and practiced effectively, and relevant points should be made rather than making a comment on whatever existed in mind. It may take time to learn and actually do all these things, but it’s not impossible.
Applying these steps makes us better entrepreneurs, better managers, better professors, better students, better analysts, and above all, better individuals.
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