Introducing case study audio podcasts in business and information systems studies

Abstract

The paper presents a project of the School of Business of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland in which the project team is developing case study podcasts together with Swiss-based technology startups to apply them in case-based teaching in Business and Information Systems study programs. The goal of the project is to facilitate students' access to case study contexts by allowing them to listen to podcasts for self-study and develop solutions for practice-oriented business and technology challenges in the classroom and guided group work. This provides an engaging blended learning approach for the students through increased motivation to consume the learning material as well as a deeper connection to the study material, compared to the more commonly applied text-based case studies. This can enable much more productive classroom discussions and group work and could therefore provide improved learning outcomes, such as increased reflection, critical thinking, as well as analytical and problem-solving skills. The paper enriches the blended learning debate with details about the case study podcast production from a content-related, technological and didactical perspective as well as provides insights into the planned evaluation of the application of case study podcasts with regard to learning outcomes.