CENTER FOR CASE STUDIES IN EDUCATION
School of Education
Pace University

The Center for Case Studies in Education was established in 1991. The Center’s co-directors, Professor Rita Silverman from the School of Education and Professor William M. Welty from the Lubin School of Business, had just completed a three-year grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education [FIPSE]. The focus of the FIPSE grant was to develop cases in teacher education and to prepare teacher education faculty to use cases in their instruction. Over the course of the grant, Professors Silverman and Welty had developed 28 cases in education, which became the basis for the first edition of their case textbook, Case Studies for Teacher Problem Solving, published by McGraw-Hill in 1992. The Center for Case Studies was initially supported by Professors Silverman’s and Welty’s royalties from the original McGraw-Hill textbook and subsequent case books. As well, Pace University supports the Center by providing release time and administrative support to the Center.

Following a second FIPSE grant, this one to prepare case studies in diversity for college faculty, the Center expanded its work by hosting a summer case teaching and writing conference. The annual conference, called “Enlivening Teaching: Using Cases to Improve Learning and Teaching” was held from 1993-2002 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Proceeds from the conference also supported the work of the Center.

Over the past 15 years, Professors Silverman and Welty have presented the work of the Center on more than 50 college campuses around the country and at national and international conference in the fields of Teacher Education, Business, and Faculty Development.

The Center for Case Studies current activities include the following:

1. Cases in teacher education are developed, edited, and/or prepared for publication. Education faculty who are interested in writing cases and having them published submit cases to the Center. If the Center staff believes the case has promise, it is edited and the final product is included in the case collection which is published in Primis, McGraw-Hill’s on-line division.
2. Cases in faculty development are developed, edited, and/or prepared for publication similar to the teacher education cases. These cases are published in-house by the Center and distributed for a nominal fee to university faculty and faculty development professionals.
3. Professors Silverman and Welty work with university faculty and faculty development offices to prepare their colleagues to use cases effectively in their teaching and to write cases in the various disciplines.