A case or design day is an extended learning experience for the students. The whole day is dedicated to the one activity and is rather intense when compared to the usual lecture format, multiple classes in one day.
There are caveats. This is something possible to do with cohorts, with few 'electives', and probably needs to be a program level activity, supported by other instructors in the program. It might be impossible to do in other situations. But, if you can pull it off, the learning opportunity for the students is amazing.
A day is long enough to get into a problem (if you control the learning scope) and to start the problem-solving, analysis journey. They have time to frame the challenge, do some planning, coordination, research, and bring things together. There are enough hands on deck for the necessary writing and explaining. The benefit is that everyone is doing it in synch, with possible uploads to the teaching platform, and peer-based comparisons are possible.
We have done a variety of design and case days between us. In some cases, there are single days in the term, sometimes there are two days, back to back. In some cases, there will be a day early in the term and two more later. In the latter case, the subsequent case days can leverage and scaffold off of the preceding case days; increasing the cognitive complexity expected, applying 'lessons learned' in the course. There is no magic recipe.
There are some common errors to avoid. For example, not having clear learning outcomes. Or, trying to have the students learn two major outcomes at the same time (they need to have a single focus, learn or apply one thing). Or, have the case or challenge beyond the grasp of the average student. Or, not having a solid debriefing after the day.
These exercises are similar to what is now called a hackathon in the software realm, or case competitions in business schools. While hackathons are relatively new, case competitions have been going on for decades. The differences with hackathons and case competitions is that the exercises are imbedded within a course and have specific learning objectives. In that regard, they can also be like a day-long lab session.
In a course, they can be used to integrate a number of pre-existing concepts and lessons into a larger, more challenging lab-type assignment. They can also be used to introduce the students to what is coming next.
If you noticed the page heading, this note is about Days and not the singular Day. This is important. We do not recommend single Design or Case Days when they are first introduced in a program. The first day’s experience will be an enormous learning situation for the students; especially when done in the first term in first year. Assuming that the same teams are used for all of the days, there will be great team learning and discovering that teams have to work together to learn how to work together. This is why national teams practice together before the big games.
Having 2-3 days dedicated to the experiential exercise allows the second and third days to increase the scope, difficulty, or complexity of the tasks. The challenge can be related between the days (or not). If the days are spaced across the term (one early, two later), it is possible to have appropriate feedback and reflection on the first and set a learning outcome related to the learning on the subsequent days. It is also possible to incorporate other class material between the days.
For freshman students, the learning outcomes can range from an introduction to the field, learning about how to work as a team, learning the program's design, problem-solving process; where the actual problem or solution is the least important! At the junior levels, the students will flail and proceed by accidental processes unless the days are carefully scripted and designed. The days can be designed with constructive failure in mind, or be more supportive; it depends on the learning outcomes. If one of the goals is to introduce the students to ill-structured problem solving and uncertainty; the days might be more oriented towards constructive failure versus hand-holding.
Design/Case Days can be exciting for both students and instructors. They have to be carefully designed and executed, especially if they have designed-in chaos and confusion. Classes have to orchestrated, rooms allocated, material prepped, and ‘helpers’ enlisted. The days are great, the students love them, and the students learn a great deal, but this does not happen by accident or by osmosis.
