Teaching by the Case Method

The case method of instruction has a long history in American education. In recent years the method has been incorporated into new fields. With this expansion, patterns of using the method have changed (1). In medical schools the case method is traditional. Patients are provided to help students learn to diagnose and prescribe treatment for a variety of illnesses. In addition to "real" cases, written descriptions of presenting symptoms are used as training supplements. But it is in the law schools that we find the most familiar and the