A two-day Faculty Development Program (FDP) on Case Method of Teaching was organized by Amrita School of Business (ASB), Coimbatore from June 8-9, 2015. Prof. S. Manikutty, Retired Professor, IIM Ahmedabad was the resource person of the program.

Prof. S. Manikutty took the faculty members of ASB through the nuances of case study method of teaching at the FDP.   The FDP encouraged the faculty members to review and enhance their own approach to case study teaching.  Prof. Manikutty clearly defined the role of a faculty in classroom while handling cases, of that of a facilitator submitting facts and figures objectively, than that of a decision-maker who imposes right or wrong decisions to the students.  “The significant factor is the rationale you used to arrive at a decision. How logical is that rationale? Have you considered all facts and figures to support your rationale? Such factors are important than the decision itself,” said Dr. Rajiv Prasad, Associate Professor, ASB.

“This FDP will help us to deliver the cases best. Prof. Manikutty spoke about the shift in orientation required for faculty to teach cases. Teachers are only supposed to facilitate discussions among the participants and not to bring in our subjectivity in discussion. This was nicely brought out,” Dr. Prasad added.

It was the theoretical take on the matter that attracted Prof. Gopakumar, Faculty Associate. “It goes by the theory of adult learning that emphasizes the value process of learning. It uses approaches to learning that are problem-based and collaborative rather than didactic, and also emphasizes more equality between the teacher and learner,” he said.

Similar was the response of Prof. Hemamala, Assistant Professor, who found the FDP like a hands-on session on case study teaching. “The emphasis was on the dynamics of the case. It was about the idea of a cross-learning, where people share and learn. He spoke about the preparation, presentation and the process. I also had an opportunity to conduct a case session.”

“The class was very interactive. It was a nice experience to learn something from a very senior person. We were using case studies already in the classes. Many things we knew, but were not able to specify. His class added that clarity to our existing style of teaching cases,” responded Dr. Mridula Sahay, Associate Professor, ASB.

Besides the faculty, several PhD scholars attended the two-day FDP.