DCSMAT Institutions, ever since their inceptions, pioneered the ‘case method’ of instruction in Kerala. Dr Sreekumar Ancheri, founding Director of DCSMAT was an ardent proponent and practitioner of this method. It is under his leadership that the method gained traction in DCSMAT campuses and thereafter elsewhere in Kerala.  Needless to say, that this is a widely accepted form of teaching in world class institutions like the Harvard Business School, Yale University, Cornell University, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Indian School of Business and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Case studies are powerful tools that enable student cantered teaching- learning processes to fruition, instilling critical thinking, communication and interpersonal skills.

In this method, students are encouraged to work through complex, ambiguous, real world problems and analyse them closely by putting themselves in those life-like situations. Case studies thus can help to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Working on cases requires students to search and evaluate multiple sources of data, encouraging them to research. The case method helps to develop real world, professional skills – organisational, time management, written and oral communication, presentation, collaboration, team management and decision-making skills. 

Teaching with case studies is more than anything, an art that requires complex skill sets in a teacher – he or she has to take on and keep switching between many roles during the course of a session; all at once, a facilitator and guide, defend a point of view, play devil’s advocate, moderate and judge. In adopting the case method, a teacher does not force, rather does not even offer his or her own opinions, but encourages students to devise, describe, and defend solutions to the problems presented in each case.