Case studies are effective learning and training tools, as they are evidence-based stories that showcase desired outcomes, increasing their effectiveness in the training. However, the key question is: how can we effectively use case studies to improve trainee learning?
Designing a Case Study for Training
First, determine whether you want to base your training on an existing case study or create one that aligns with your training goals. Both options are valid if the study's results support the training goals.
Let’s assume you choose to create a case study that aligns with your training goals, such as creating a repeatable course on providing outstanding phone service for a client service team. Supporting the training requires a case study that illustrates how using the training's techniques improves client service outcomes. There are two options here:
- Draft a case study based on your experiences, highlighting the necessary details related to the training and summarizing key ideas to support your perspective.
- Research existing case studies from credible research organizations and leverage them to support your ideas.
Either way, you can use the case study to demonstrate how to apply training techniques and how they impact results. Highlight certain parts of the case study and how they connect to the techniques covered in the training, ensuring that trainees retain this information.
Creating Training that Fits the Case Study
The second option is to create training based on an already established case study. Here’s how to proceed:
- Look for a case study that demonstrates the desired outcomes. For example, one case study might illustrate how training leads to long-term results applicable across various companies.
- Review the case study: Focus on key details and mechanisms that produce the desired results. The case study should support these mechanisms and explain how to use them.
- Create a training module that integrates the case study and its data with the mechanisms you identified, training employees to achieve the same results.
This training module can complement the case study by referencing its details and data during the training sessions, or it can serve as a cited resource to validate the concepts you present. Choose the options that best suit your employees and available training methods to create a better learning experience.
Using Longitudinal Case Studies to Illustrate Training Outcomes
Longitudinal case studies are designed to collect and analyze specific data about subjects over an extended timeframe. These studies track individuals for several years, throughout their careers, or even over their entire lives. For example, longitudinal studies are often used in medicine to study the long-term effects of substances and diseases.
Longitudinal studies are effective in training development, as they can reference specific evidence that demonstrates that certain types of training increase the employees’ value throughout their careers, in addition to improving outcomes and providing benefits to employees, clients, and companies in the short term.
Incorporating this type of case study is crucial for encouraging employees to take training seriously. Motivating employees to engage in training by highlighting its benefits for clients or the organization differs from demonstrating how training can positively influence their career progression.
The most challenging aspect is that case studies can support multiple points because of the trainees’ varying career paths and skills applications.
Using Mini-Case Studies to Support Specific Ideas
If appropriate longitudinal studies cannot be located, key concepts in the training can be supported by mini-case studies. For example, particular case studies can highlight various responses to an angry customer and show how employing different approaches yields different results during a thorough customer service course. These case studies offer specific illustrations that help select the right tone when interacting with clients.
Mini-case studies are abundant compared to extensive longitudinal studies, making them easier to locate and use to support your ideas. Long-term studies may yield unexpected results or may conflict with your studies and policies, which can be challenging to address unless you are ready to revise the training approach completely.
However, the abundance of mini-studies can also be considered a drawback because it may lead to conflicting results and the "cherry-picking" fallacy—selecting examples that support a particular perspective without considering their overall value. This practice can undermine the quality of training and fail to provide a comprehensive representation of the topic. Therefore, trainers must be cautious and ensure that selected case studies are appropriate, unbiased, and contribute to achieving overall learning objectives.
In Conclusion
Part I of this article discussed designing a case study that fits the training, creating training that fits the case study, using a longitudinal case study to illustrate training outcomes, and using mini-case studies to support specific ideas. Part II will delve into conducting a case study throughout the training process, encouraging trainees to predict outcomes, discussing potential alternative outcomes in case studies, transforming the case study into a simulation experience, creating a case study framework, and encouraging trainees to fill it out.
