The Group Case Study Method in a Web-Based Human Resources Management Course

Many Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs across the United States are turning to new technologies and web-based learning to better serve their current students and to attract new ones (Gauch, 2001). My graduate-level class, Human Resources Management in Public and Nonprofit Organizations, is the first fully accredited MP A course offered online by the University of Louisville and has served as a pilot for future online offerings. The first online course began in January 2001 and completed its third offering in the Spring semester of 2003. In this course, the group case study method utilised in my traditional on-site Human Resources Management course is transferred to an electronic setting. The group method has proved to be a valuable tool in acquainting students with real-life human resources management problems and with the group decision-making skills to solve them. This paper describes the group case study method and how this approach is implemented online in a way that retains the method's learning advantages and maximizes the capabilities of a web-based course.