Beyond the Case Method: Effective Teaching Strategies for Leadership and Entrepreneurship

1. Preliminary thoughts on”Beyond the case method” V 0.1 An examination of more effective ways of teaching students Leadership (and Entrepreneurship) by Lars Monrad-Krohn

2. Human competence is more than knowledge • The goals of teaching is to qualify the student for certain tasks in society. To become quaslified the student will have to: • Increase his knowledgeabout facts and how to act • Learn new skillsto be integrated in his way to behave when confronted with a task or problem • Adopt attitudesthat are productive for his tasks • Achieve working habitsthat gives him good results

3. Limitations of ”text book teaching” to achieve student skills • Reading a conventional text book conveys in most cases knowledge. • To obtains skills an amount of training is required, i.e. The student will have to act and measure the result of the actions and compare these results to some goals • There exist ”work books” for self study that for certain well defined fields can give the student ”training”, but these teaching aids are few at a graduate level. Tasks given by human nteachers are the most prervalent

4. Limitations of ”text book teaching” to achieve student attitudes • When it comes to aquiring proper attitudes, textbooks will in subconscious ways obviosly convey some attitudes to the student, but thes attitudes are implicit and not well defined. (4 years study of law texts and judgements will tend to modify students attitude in the direction of ”rule orientation and logic”) • Most probable will popular teachers convey in undefined ways som attitude long term adjustements to students. • According to the author, there seems to be few teaching aids directed to modification of student attitudes

5. Limitations of ”text book teaching” to achieve good student work habits • There exits some litterature on ”study techniques” and ”personal efficiency”, but it is well known that pure knowlede of good habits are inferior to actually performing and getting the habit ”installed” by personal execise. • Most probably ”training sessions” are needed to install habits, not ”textbook teaching”

6. More ”life-like” teaching • Acceptance of the previous statements leads one to investigate more efficient ways of teaching. • The most obvious answer seems to move the teaching more into the ”real-life” and ”action” realm • The case method is certainly a step in this direction. • But the question is arising: Can we go further?

7. Simulation of real-life environment • When accepting the foregoing, it becomes a goal to make the student course experience as close to real life as possible, accepting the limitations of practicality and resource availability (cost limitations). • In designing the course environment one can make course settings that simulate real-life environment: • Group exercises with organizations like business rarher than ”typical student” group organization • Appointed leadership with authority • Fire and hire • Payment for work and for results

8. Making students act and observe • In order to make students learn from their course experienc, it is very important to make them act and observe results of own and others actions. • If a high deegree of personal involment is achieved, their feelings will be engaged, with corresponding ”ingraining” of the learning experience. • Also student may be given tasks of evaluatig actions, group work effektiveness and other students task performance, and give credits

9. IFI-EURO currency (IE) • When people discuss matters, there is often a higher intensity when money or personal advantages are at stake. • In order to increase student personal involment, a cource currency is introduced, and actions involving transfer of ”money” are designed. • Since the course environment will only simalate real-life, the currency must be non-convertable to real-life currencies • In order for the currency to be of value to the student, it must be convertable to something of value to the student, namely grade improvements • In the course INF5290 fall 2003 the first experiences with such a course currency were obtained

10. Transactions in IFI-EURO (IE) • Each students amount of IE were converted to ”evaluation points” on a scale 1-10 which again counted 50% of the student ”exercise points”which again counted 33% of ”final evaluation” points on the same scale, determining the grade (A through F) given for the course. • Income for students were among others money paid for presentations, payments for beeing present, group payments for winning competiones, money paid by other groups for ideas and work done, payments to be made by students when engaging available consultants, payments to other groups for ideas and work etc • The transactions are designed with two goals in mind: • Simulate real life as close as possible • Correspond with credits to be given in the course

11. Leadership challenges • Even if there are several schools of thought regarding leadership, some fundamentals transcends the various theories: • Making subordinates work with highest possible effiency • Motivate subordinates • Evaluate, hire and fire subordinates • Determine salary of subordinates • Delegate tasks to subordinates • Plan, organize, execute and measure actions or ”projects”

12. Leadership training • When course tasks are done under student leadership of student groups, experience is gained not only by the current leader, but also by the ”subordinates” as they observe leadership effectiveness • In INF5290 two sets of student groups were formed consecutively, giving students multiple group experience • Selection of second round of group leaders were done in a process simulating real life as close as possible, emphesizing leader candidate exposure willingness

13. Student maturity development • Frustrations experienced give rise to possible ”growth” • Thus one of the goals is to make the student experience ”frustrations” of the kind that will (might) appear later in their careers

14. Final examinations • In order that all student course experience give relevant learning, the final course examination is organized as close to real life as practical: • An assembly of professional project evaluators (in this case investors) are assembled • to hear the student presentations • in down-town professional office meeting room • Students dress for the occasion, make calling cards and rehearse their presentations with available consultants (paid in IE)