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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Content Relevance in Case-Study Teaching: The
Alumni Connection and Its Effect on Student
Motivation
Sherry Finney & Joanne Pyke
To cite this article: Sherry Finney & Joanne Pyke (2008) Content Relevance in Case-Study Teaching: The Alumni Connection and Its Effect on Student Motivation, Journal of Education for Business, 83:5, 251-258, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.83.5.251-258
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.83.5.251-258
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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hetruebenefitsofactivelearning through case-study methodology were instituted as early as the 1920s by Harvard Business School. Today, the case method of teaching contin-ues to gain recognition in the realms of business education. The reality is thatstudentslearnbydoing.Usingcase studies, according to Cinneide (1997), “changes the locus of control within the classroom from being centered on theteacher’sknowledgetoafullypar-ticipative group discussion on issues involvedinthecase”(p.3).Thistypeof interactionencouragesthedevelopment ofcreativeproblem-solvingskills.Fur-ther,studentsbecomeconfidentintheir abilities to work through the issues of thecaseandtodeveloprealalternatives to real problems. However, although the common belief has been that cases should simulate real-life problems and focus on current business issues, there has been no recorded evidence to sup-port the perceived influence of case content familiarity on student motiva-tion. In this article, we explore that relation.
ReviewoftheLiterature
EducatorsatHarvardBusinessSchool havebeenusingcase-studyteachingfor almostacentury,andintheirview,the case-studymethodologyisthebestway oftrainingdecisionmakers(Frymier&
Shulman, 1995; Theroux & Kilbane, 2004). According to Kimball (1995), Harvard business instructors used the experiencesofprominentbusinessmen inclassdiscussion.Earlyintheirdevel-opment,businessschoolswereviewed ascommercialcolleges,sotheiradopt-ing the case-teachascommercialcolleges,sotheiradopt-ing approach of law and medicine was seen as a means of establishingthelegitimacyofbusiness curricula.
Aside from the ability to address pedagogical elements of management education, a case-based approach also affordsthebenefitsofappliedlearning. According to Rippin, Booth, Bowie, and Jordan (2002), case teaching pro-vides educational objectives that are vocationalandskillbased,emphasizing problem solving and decision making; theyalsostressconceptualdevelopment andtheenhancementofcritical-thinking skills.Roselle(1996)suggestedfurther benefits, believing that the process of teachingthroughcasesaddsvarietyand interest and helps to bring disparate groups together by providing a focus for student-centered learning. Rippen etal.suggestedthatstudentswantcase sessions to be realistic because they can practice problem-solving skills in arelativelyrisk-freesetting.Whatmay appear to students as an unnecessar-ily unstructured exercise is actually a nearapproximationofthecomplexreal-ity they are likely to face outside the
ContentRelevanceinCase-Study
Teaching:TheAlumniConnection
andItsEffectonStudentMotivation
SHERRYFINNEY JOANNEPYKE
CAPEBRETONUNIVERSITY NOVASCOTIA,CANADA
T
ABSTRACT.Researcherssuggestthatbusinesscasesshouldprofilebusinessesor productsfamiliartostudentstoenhancethe learningexperience.However,noempirical evidencehasvalidatedtheseclaims.Inthis article,theauthorsdiscusstheimplication ofcontentrelevanceinteachingandpro-videanaccountofaCanadianuniversity’s effortstointroducealumnicasesinits undergraduateprogram.Thefindingsreveal apositivecorrelationbetweenstudent perceptionsofcaserelevanceandstudent motivation.
Keywords:casemethod,caseteaching, contentrelevance,studentmotivation
Copyright©2008HeldrefPublications
classroom. The case itself can develop skills, capitalize on group diversity, and reveal and explore the complex-ity of organizational life. For many of thesereasons,thecasemethodremains adominantandinfluentialapproachin businesseducation(Kesner,2001).
Otherresearchhascontrastedacase approach to more traditional methods ofteaching.Particularly,Bocker(1987) theorized that problem case teaching is more effective than lecture teaching in its ability to reproduce and apply knowledge and learned skills and to increasestudentmotivation.Inhisfind-ings, positive student test scores indi-catedthatcaseteachingproducesmore effectivelearningthanlectureteaching. There may have been methodological limitations(e.g.,smallsamplesize),but Bocker concluded that problem case teachingstimulateslearningmoreeffec-tively than does the traditional lecture-basedapproach.
Morerecently,researchershavetried toexperimentwiththetraditionalmethod ofdeliveryforcaseteaching.According to Theroux and Kilbane (2004), “The commonmethodofpresentingcaseshas remained virtually unchanged, despite substantial advancements in technol-ogyandbusinesspractices”(p.163).In theirresearch,thereal-timecasemeth-od(RTCM),whichisanapproachthat builds on the traditional case method and provides extended coverage on a single company over the entire semes-ter,wasused.WiththeRTCM,students use technology to interact in real time on a continuous basis with a company while being exposed to and deciding on daily business issues.According to Theroux and Kilbane, students were engagedandeagertolearnmoreabout the case company. Findings indicated the RTCM offers a new learning tool either in place of or as a complement tothetraditionalcasemethodusedina varietyofbusinesscourses.
Theliteraturerevealshowcaseteach-ing is no longer restricted to the dis-cipline of management and strategic business and has experienced increas-ing interest in other fields, particular-ly accounting. Power (1991) noted a resurgence in demand for accounting studentstohaveanenhancedawareness ofthebusinessenvironment.Therefore,
there was perceived benefit to intro-ducing accounting students to a more humanorsocialaspectoftheaccount-ing function, and it was believed this could be achieved through case teach- ing.Further,accordingtoCullen,Rich-ardson, and O’Brien (2004), teaching abstract theories, concepts, and tech-niques is not enough, and researchers thinkthatproblem-basedcasescanplay asignificantroleindevelopingbroader socialscience-basedskills.Thisispar-ticularlyimportantgiventheescalating revelations of accounting malpractices occurringtoday(Cullenetal.).
There has been much discussion in thecase-teachingliteraturethathascov-ered a wide variety of topics, includ-ing but not limited to teachinclud-ing styles, innovations in case delivery, and the valueandapplicabilityofcasesincer-tain fields.Yet, there has been nothing published to date that has considered theimpactofthecasecontent,particu-larly the background and origin of the decision maker or business, on student motivation.Theimportanceoffamiliar-ity in case teaching has been implied, however, in several occurrences. Prostano and Prostano (1982) and Roselle (1996) have stated that rele-vance, currency, and familiarity have a positive influence on student involve-ment, and because of this higher level of involvement, students become more engagedwiththecasestudy.Similarly, Cullenetal.(2004)stated,“Casestud-iesshouldbechosenthatstudentsfind interestingandmotivating,usinghouse-holdnames,becausetheyarefamiliar” (p. 254). Despite these references to a need for familiarity in case content, therehasbeennoresearchthathasjusti-fieditsinfluence.
Looking beyond the case-teaching literature,however,andconsideringthe achievement. Further, research by Markovits (1986) found that increased contentfamiliarityresultedinhigherper-formance levels of conditional reason-ing.Oneofthemorewidelycitedpieces ofwork,however,hasbeenresearchby
Frymier and Shulman (1995), which has specifically considered the impact ofrelevanceonmotivation.Theirstudy has revealed that relevance of material is positively correlated with students’ state motivation. In their research, 470 undergraduate students participated in a survey that assessed not only their perceptions of course relevance but also verbal and nonverbal instructor immediacy (i.e., the instructor’s use of behaviorintheclassroomthatincludes smiles, head nods, inclusive language, eye contact, use of first names, and a willingnessandinterestintalkingwith students) and trait or state motivation. As part of this research, Frymier and Shulmandevelopeda12-itemrelevance scale. As hypothesized, when students perceived course material as relevant, they were more motivated to study for the course. Other researchers have posited the same belief of the influ-enceofcontentrelevanceonmotivation (Keller,1979,1983;Sass,1989;Visser & Keller, 1990; Weaver & Cottrell, 1988);however,ascitedbyFrymierand Shulman, only work by Newby (1991) haspresentedempiricalevidenceofthe association. This leads us to the ques-tion of why content relevance in case teaching is so important. What could educators hope to achieve if content relevant cases were linked to higher levelsofstudentmotivation?Asearlier researchershavediscovered,intrinsical-ly motivated students process informa-tion more deeply (Lepper, 1988); they usemorelogicalinformationgathering and decision-making strategies (Con-dry&Chambers,1978);andtheyhave greater appreciation and tolerance for challenging work (Lepper). Therefore, if it could be shown that case content relevance is positively correlated with higherlevelsofmotivation,caseteach-ing for business educators would take onanentirelynewapproach.
Hypothesis
There is a limited body of research thathasconsideredtheimpactofcourse content relevance on student motiva-tion. Further, there has been no identi-fied research that has specifically con-sideredtherelevanceofcasecontenton interestandmotivationlevelsexpressed
bystudents.Therefore,weproposethe following hypothesis: A positive rela-tionship exists between student reports of case content relevance and student motivation.
METHOD
Wechoseacase-studyapproachand selected Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada, as the organization. In May 2005, Cape Breton University engageditsfacultyandseniorstudents in a case-writing project that centered on the creation of cases that profiled local alumni entrepreneurs. It was the intent of the project to build on the perceivedassociationbetweenrealbusi-nesses or entrepreneurs and increased student interest and motivation. It was anticipated that this elevated level of studentinterestwouldholdorbegreater ifthecaseprofiledlocalbusinessesthat wereoperatedorownedbyindividuals who were university alumni. During the2005–2006academicyear,sixcases were taught in six courses, covering disciplines such as introductory busi-ness, introductory marketing, market-ing management, financial accounting, small business management, and busi-nesspolicy.
Sample
The student population was defined as undergraduate business students enrolled in a 4-year degree program. Allstudentswereexposedtothecases throughcoreorrequiredcourses;there-fore, students representing all majors wereincluded.Inaddition,thecourses using the cases ranged from introduc-tory,1st-yearlevelcoursestofinal-year, capstone courses. In total, the student populationofinterestwascomposedof 176individuals.
Instrumentation
The faculty’s perceived belief of an increase in motivation on the part of students initiated the research. There-fore,theprimaryobjectiveofthisstudy was to provide empirical evidence of whether the perception was true.As a result,itwasnecessarytomeasureboth perceived relevance of local cases and motivation.
Relevance
Frymier and Shulman (1995) pre-senteda12-itemLikert-typescaleusing anchorsthatrangedfrom0(never)to4 (very often). This scale was developed onthebasisofpreviousworksofSass (1989),WeaverandCottrell(1988),and Keller (1983, 1987a, 1987b). Frymier and Shulman’s scale measures the rel-evance of explicit teacher behavior. However,forthecurrentresearch,scale items were slightly adjusted to assess the relevance of local cases. In addi-tion to minor changes in wording, two constructswerecombined,andanother wasremovedbecauseitdidnotapplyto relevance in this context.This resulted inafinalscalecontaining10measures. Last, instead of the anchorsnever and very often, it was decided to have the respondents indicate their degree of agreement on a 5-point scale ranging from1(stronglydisagree)to5(strongly agree).Wethoughttheseanchorswere more appropriate given the interest in attitudes.Thereliabilityofthemeasures of relevance were methodically tested and refined by Frymier and Shulman
intheirresearch.ThescalehadaCron-Using similar methodology to that proposed by Frymier and Shulman (1995),wealsomeasuredstatemotiva-tion by means of Richmond’s (1990) motivation scale. That scale consists of five 7-step bipolar adjectives.State motivation refers to a student’s moti-vation at a certain point in time and is influenced by the situation and can vary over time (Brophy, 1986, 1987; Keller,1983).Richmond’sscaleitems were motivated–unmotivated, excit-ed–bored, uninterested–interested, involved–uninvolved,anddreadit–look forwardtoit.Forthecurrentresearch, these measures were applied to the statement, “A class using local cases tohelpteachcoursecontentmakesme feel...”Toavoidthehaloeffect,two setsofbipolaradjectiveswerereversed on the scale. Richmond reported reli-ability levels of .94 for this measure.
For the current research, reliability analysis revealed a Cronbach’s alpha scoreof.88.
The survey instrument was divided intothreesections.Thefirstsectionasked students to assess the relevance of the local-case approach. The second section presentedRichmond’s(1990)motivation scale. The third section asked students about the overall effectiveness of the learning experience, the realism of the experience, its effectiveness in teaching entrepreneurship, and preference for this typeofcaseoverthosefeaturingunfamil-iar people or businesses. Last, students wereaskedtoprovideclosingcomments.
DataCollection
We collected data through develop-mentofanquestionnaireandinvitation sampling by e-mail (Burns & Bush, 2006). To protect the integrity of the data, all potential respondents were suppliedaloginpasswordthatenabled them to answer the questionnaire only once. An online survey administration was deemed to be acceptable because the population of interest was consid-eredcomputerliterateandhadaccessto theInternet.Discussionswithapretest sample also revealed this was the pre-ferred method and the one believed to elicitthegreatestresponserate,depend-ing on the timelicitthegreatestresponserate,depend-ing of the delivery. The data were collected during the 2-week period at the commencement of the academic term 2006–2007.The survey was made available to 176 students, and 84 (47.7%) individuals responded. This allowed for a margin of error of ±7.75%.
Limitations
Although it might be argued that there are limitations to the current study, primarily because of the case-studyapproachandsmallsample,other research on the benefits of case-study methodologies deserves attention. Specifically, it has been argued that researchthatiscontextdependent,like case-study research, is valuable in that it creates a type of learning that gen-erates expert activity (Eysenck, 1976; Flyvbjerg, 2006). Flyvbjerg explained, “If people were exclusively trained in context-independent knowledge and
rules, that is, the kind of knowledge that forms the basis of textbooks and computers, they would remain at the beginner’slevelinthelearningprocess” (p.222).Therefore,thecurrentresearch may not be developed enough to sup-porttheoreticalknowledge.However,it isvaluableasacontributortoconcrete, practicalknowledge.
A second criticism of case-study methodology centers on a common beliefthatcasescannotbegeneralized. Flyvbjerg (2006) and others (Eckstein, 1975;Ragin,1992;Rosch,1978),how-ever, have argued that a researcher’s ability to generalize findings from a case study is based on the selection of the case. For instance, if a researcher wants to get the greatest amount of information possible about a phenom-enon, a representative case or sample may not be the best approach. “The typical or average case is often not the richest in information” (Flyvbjerg, p. 229). A critical case, however, can have strategic importance (Flyvbjerg). In the instance of the current research, studyoftheimpactofcontent-relevant cases on student motivation is a rela-tively unexplored topic. Therefore, to choose Cape Breton University as a critical case-study organization made sense given the history of the school with respect to case teaching. There was significant use of local content cases,andthesampleofstudentsusing thecaseswaswideranging,enablinga diverserangeofpossiblefindings.Stake (1995) supported the ability of case-studyresearchtobegeneralized,buthe referredtothegeneralizationasintuitive andempiricallygrounded.Specifically, hetermeditnaturalisticgeneralization. Stake believed the data collected from a case study would resonate experien-tially with a broad section of readers andwouldcreateabetterunderstanding ofthephenomenonbeingstudied.
RESULTS
RelevanceandMotivation Ratings
Table 1 is a summary of respon-dent mean scores for individual con-structitemsselectedfromFrymierand Shulman’s (1995) relevance scale.
Respondentsagreedverystrongly(4.35) thatalocalcasehelpedthemtounder- standconceptsbeingtaughtandprovid-ed an explanation of business manage-mentpractices.Infact,forallrelevance items, respondents, on average, rated theirlevelofagreementaseitheragree orstrongly agree. The two items with the lowest mean scores were (a) the ability of local cases to help students understand the importance of business concepts (4.08) and (b) the ability of a local case to demonstrate how the course material relates to a student’s futurecareer(4.06).
In addition, students were asked to rate their feelings on certain descrip-tors as they applied to the use of local alumnicasesinteaching.Table2dem-onstrates that of the five items com-posing the motivation scale, students indicated highest scores for the ability
ofalocalcasetomakethemfeelinter-ested(6.1).Itshouldbenoted,however, that relatively high ratings were also providedfortheremainingscaleitems. The lowest score was reported for the ability of the local case to make them feelexcited(5.1).
Todetermineifacorrelationexisted between the relevance and motivation ratings, it was necessary to calculate a summated score for each construct. It is acceptable to calculate a summated scale when using attitude scales, like Likert and semantic-differential scales, as in this study. To calculate a sum-matedscale,thescoresoftheitemsfor each of the relevance and motivation scales were summed and averaged to yield each individual’s attitude score. This allowed the placement of each respondent somewhere on a continu-um of the attitude in question.Table 3 TABLE1.MeanResponseRatingsforRelevanceScaleCategories(N=84)
Relevancescaleitem Rating
Allowsfordiscussionthathelpswithunderstandingoftopic 4.35 Providesexplanationofbusinessmanagementpractices 4.35
Demonstratesrelevancythroughcurrency 4.24
Providesexamplesthathelpwiththestudyofbusiness
managementpractices 4.21
Demonstratestheimportanceofcoursematerial 4.19
Demonstrateshowthecasecontentmightapplytointerests
orcareergoals 4.19
Demonstrateshowbusinessconceptsfromdifferentareas
linktooneanother 4.18
Revealsexperiencesofentrepreneursandaidsinunderstanding
ofconcepts 4.10
Demonstratestheimportanceofbusinessconcepts 4.08
Demonstrateshowcoursematerialrelatestofuturecareergoals 4.06
Note.EachitemwasmeasuredusingaLikertscalefrom1(stronglydisagree)to5(stronglyagree) adaptedfromA.B.Frymier&G.M.Shulman(1995).
TABLE2.MeanResponseRatingsforMotivationScaleCategories(N=84)
Motivationscaleitem Rating
Uninterested–Interested 6.1
Uninvolved–Involved 5.7
Dreadit–Lookforwardtoit 5.6
Unmotivated–Motivated 5.6
Unexcited–Excited 5.1
Note.Eachitemwasmeasuredona7-pointsemanticdifferentialscalefrom1(uninterested)to7 (interested)adaptedfromV.P.Richmond(1990).
shows average summated scores, rang-es, and standard deviations for both scales.Pearson’scorrelationcoefficient between the two scales was calculated asr = .516 and was significant atp < .01.Thisindicatesapositivecorrelation betweenthetwovariables.
OverallOpinions
Thefinalaspectofthesurveyasked studentstoindicatetheirlevelofagree-mentonavarietyofoverallmeasures. Table 4 shows mean scores for each of the four questions that addressed opinions surrounding the realism of local cases, applicability to entrepre- neurship,preference,andoveralleffec- tivenesstowardlearning.Althoughstu-dentsindicatedstrongsupportforand beliefintheeffectivenessoflocalcases as a learning tool, opinion was not as strongwhentheywereaskedtoassess preference for local cases over those
focusing on businesses from another region.
Last, students were also presented with the following open-ended item: “Please provide any additional com- mentsbelowthatmighthelpustounder-stand your views about using locally basedalumnicases(i.e.,whatyouliked most,whatyoulikedleast,etc.).”Inall, 30 students responded, and their com-ments were coded into the following categories. The vast majority of com-ments (more than 63%) related to the conceptthatstudentsfeltthatthecases were more interesting and they could relatetothelocalcasesmorethanthey could to cases about businesses from other regions or businesses that were much larger. Some of the comments included:
Ilikedthefactthatwhenwewerediscuss-ingallthestuffaboutourcase,wecould actually picture the place, and it helped
when we were assessing the viability of thebusiness.
During the case study, it was helpful to deal with an environment. I understood bothgeographicallyandeconomically. WhatIlikedmostaboutlocalcasestudies isIwasabletorelatetothemmorethanI wouldtoacasefromanotherregion. Ibelievethatlocallybasedalumnicases are real for us as students because they were also students who went through whataregoingthrough.
The next most common theme of comments related to the need to also use cases from other regions. Of all, 7 respondents indicated that to be pre-pared to respond to a global market-place and to provide exposure to the size and power of the business world, other cases need to be used. However, 4 of those 7 also supported the use of local cases as well. One international student commented that he found the local cases difficult because he had no knowledgeofthelocalarea.
The remaining comments touched on the ability of cases to demonstrate howalocalcasecanshowtheconnec-tionbetweenthestudentandhisorher futurecareer:
Cases are more realistic when you are familiar with the company.Also, if stu-dents plan to run their own business in Cape Breton, they can foresee problems thattheymayrunintowithinthisregion.
Two students specifically commented that it was great to hear about Cape Breton University graduates and their successstories.Last,onestudentmade thefollowingcomment:
Ilikedtheideathatsuggestionswemade about local cases were documented and feedbackwasgiventothecompanyown-ersinsomecases.
DISCUSSION
Onthebasisoftheresultsofthiscase study, we conclude that the hypoth- esisissupportedandapositivecorrela-tion exists between student assessment of case content relevance and student motivation toward local cases. On all items of the relevance scale, respon-dents reported mean scores of 4 or greater, indicating that local cases are considered relevant on a wide range of elements, including but not limited TABLE3.AverageSummatedScaleScoresandCorrelation(N=84)
Statistic Value
Motivationscalescore
Range 2.4–7.0
M 5.63
SD 0.96
Relevancescalescore
Range 2.9–5.0
M 4.19
SD 0.48
Correlationcoefficient(r)a .516*
Note.Maximumpossiblevaluesonmotivationandrelevancescalesare7and5,respectively.
aAveragesummatedscoresforbothscaleswerecorrelated. *p<.01.
TABLE4.MeanResponseRatingsforRealism,Effectiveness, andPreferenceItems(N=84)
Item Rating
Alocalalumnicaseprovidesamorerealisticlearningexperiencefor
studentscomparedtoacasefocusedonunfamiliarbusinessesorpeople. 4.4 Usinglocallybasedcasesprofilingalumniisaneffectivewayfor
studentstolearnaboutentrepreneurship. 4.3
Overall,theexperienceofusingalocallybasedcasefeaturingalumni
wasaneffectivelearningexperience. 4.3
Iwouldratheranalyzealocallybasedcasethanoneaboutacompany
fromanotherregion. 3.9
Note.EachitemwasmeasuredusingaLikertscalefrom1(stronglydisagree)to5(stronglyagree).
to their ability to demonstrate the fol-lowing: relevance of business topics, importanceofbusinesstopics,applica-tion to career interests, and integraimportanceofbusinesstopics,applica-tion of business functions. On the measure of motivation, however, although stu-dentsreportedhigherlevelsofinterest, involvement,andself-professedmotiva-tion, the local cases did not elicit the samehighlevelsofexcitement.
Overall,studentsdidfeellocalcases providedamorerealisticlearningexperi-ence,wereeffective,andhelpedtoteach about entrepreneurship. However, it is surprisingthatinspiteoftheseassess-ments,studentsdidnotoverwhelmingly prefer local cases to those from other regions.Thisislikelyexplainedthrough thecommentsintheopen-endedaspect of the questionnaire.There was a con-cern on the part of some students that using only local cases would not give studentsexposuretothebiggerpicture. Therefore, several students suggested thebestapproachwouldbeacombined assortmentoflocalandregionalcases.
Thesefindingsaresignificantbecause until now there has been no empiri-cal evidence to validate the claim that case relevancy enhances learning and motivationamongstudents.Whatdothe present findings mean for the business educatorsandbusinessstudents?
From a pedagogical perspective, this newfound knowledge may mean that teaching strategies will change in the discipline of case teaching. Educa-tors who did not use a case-teaching approachpreviouslywillbeencouraged todoso.Further,educatorswhoalready engagedincaseteachingwillbeencour-agedtobemoreselectiveintheirchoice of case-study content, trying wherever possible to incorporate cases that are familiar, always hoping to enhance motivation levels among students. In addition,therecouldbeimplicationsfor the field of case writing because there willbeincreasedneedforandemphasis produce future managers with a more developed skill set who are better able tohandlethoseuniquemanagementsit-uationsthatareoftenthebasisofsome ofthemoreinterestingcasestudies.
Giventhelonghistoryofcaseteach-ing in business and its more recent acceptance and growth in certain sub-disciplines, researchers can argue that there are many faculty members who wouldfindthiskindofresearchvaluable. Althoughthereissignificantworthinthe present findings, this topic area can be further enhanced by additional research involving a larger sample. Additional case studies would expand the base of knowledgeaboutcontext-dependentsitu- ations,enablingthecreationofcontext-independentknowledge.
DirectionsforFutureResearch
This study addressed an important aspect of business education and could be further developed in a number of manners to provide additional insight into the case-teaching approach. One questionthatremainsiswhetherlocalor regionalcasesinspirethegreatestlevels of motivation. The current research has asserted a positive correlation between localcasesandmotivation.Butarelocal cases more effective in motivating stu-dentsthanthosewithunfamiliarcontent? On the basis of some of the comments from the student survey, we infer that this question is worthy of further con-sideration.Another question is whether there are differences in motivation lev-els based on demographic characteris-tics (e.g., area of major, year of study). Perhapsdifferencesdonotexist,butthis needs to be confirmed through a larger sample study. Last, there is a need for additional research that would consider other elements of content familiarity. For instance, would cases built around national or international brands used frequently by the typical undergraduate businessstudentbeaseffectiveinstimu- latingmotivation?Thereneedstobefur-therinvestigationofwhatspecificallyis consideredrelevantincase-studyteach-ing. Further examination of these areas
mayrevealinterestingfindingsthathave implicationsforpedagogicalapproaches incaseteaching.
NOTES
SherryFinney’sresearchinterestsareinternal marketingforchangemanagement,tourismmar-keting,andcasewritingandteaching.
JoannePyke’sresearchinterestsareaboriginal tourismmarketinganduniqueandeffectiveclass-roomteachingmethodologies.
Correspondence concerning this article should beaddressedtoSherryFinney,CapeBretonUni-versity, P.O. Box 5300, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada,B1P6L2.
E-mail:sherry_finney@cbu.ca
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