Stimulating Critical Inquiry

through the Case Method

If the goal of education is framed as the promotion of critical thinking skills, case discussion can be one of the few means to explore complex conceptual relationships in many academic and business discipliners. Yet creating a forum for learning to assist independent inquiry can be extremely difficult. Students may be perplexed that authorities can disagree on specific conceptualizations of "universal" principles and problems. In resolving business cases, for example, students are frequently troubled that cases can have multiple possible solutions, each with different potential costs and different potential benefits.

Papers and cases are invited for consideration to this session which either promote or examine the development of critical thinking skills as the explicit end of the case method approach. Case are sought which encourage students to challenge implicit assumptions, discriminate between criteria, seek new evidence, and scrutinize alternatives. Papers which examine the dilemmas encountered in promoting skeptical inquiry or in questioning cultural values and distinctions are also encouraged. Case examples include: management cases which question or set limits to trends such as "reengineering" or "total quality management," legal cases which define new boundaries or question legal concepts in emerging applications such as the Internet; and marketing cases which question the benefits of increased advertising spending which forces diminished budgets in research, manufacturing, customer service, or product development. Papers may contrast and compare the use of the case method in different disciplines, critically examine recent popular or academic trends, or analyze methodology. Discussions of the applicability of the critical thinking literature to particular disciplines or across the curriculum are also welcome. For more details contact Mark J. Kay, Montclair State University, Tel. 201-655-4254, Fax ..5312, email kaym@saturn.montclair.edu