Case-Based Teaching Meets Design Thinking

Higher education plays a crucial role in preparing future leaders and workers to meet the challenges of a demanding and ever-changing reality by making sure that students graduate with the knowledge, skills, and competences needed to thrive in the future. Experiential learning and case-based teaching are well-established methods for developing 21st-century skills such as problem-solving. Design Thinking (DT) builds on similar principles and can further enhance case-based teaching by promoting creativity and providing structure for tackling complex, open-ended problems. For over a decade, Kristianstad University has run an innovation program grounded in DT. Drawing inspiration from this
initiative, a best-practice model has been developed for integrating real-life case studies into higher education, aimed at strengthening students’ ability to identify, formulate, and solve problems, and designed to be implemented independently by business faculty without prior expertise in design disciplines. This paper outlines the method and explores how DT can be applied to case-based teaching to enhance student learning, improve problem-solving skills, and foster an entrepreneurial mindset. The model has been used since 2022 in the course Marketing and Organizing at Kristianstad University. So far, nearly
600 students have been trained using the model. The overall design is inspired by DT, with DT-based tools specifically used for problem formulation and idea generation. The method has deepened and streamlined collaboration with external organizations (real-life case providers), and evaluations indicate that it facilitates learning for students, educators, and external organizations alike. A central feature of the method is its strong emphasis on the problem phase, where problem identification and formulation are made explicit components
of the learning process. The approach encourages and rewards entrepreneurial
solutions and enhances motivation and engagement.