about the project

The Institute for Case Development (ICD) is a full-service institute that focuses on teaching and learning through case methods. The ICD publishes teacher-authored casebooks and provides professional development on how to use these cases effectively through facilitator guides, videos, and seminars on case writing and case-based teaching. The Institute also publishes research that examines the impact of case methods on teacher learning and student learning.

Teachers and teacher educators have long been aware of the gap between the principles of education taught in university preservice programs and the realities of classroom life. The current burgeoning interest in educational case methods is testimony to the promise of case-based teaching as a way of bridging that gap, and of easing the novice teacher’s entry into the classroom. A case holds attributes of both theory and practice, enabling teachers and students alike to examine real-life situations under a laboratory microscope. It is a piece of controllable reality, more vivid and contextual than a textbook discussion, yet more disciplined and manageable than observing or doing work in the world itself.

Research
Happy Accidents: Cases as Opportunities for Teacher Learning (PDF)

Bibliography
Selected Bibliography on Case Methods