Natasha Katuta Mwila won the Outstanding Case Teacher Competition at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2023. #CaseAwards2023
Natasha received her award at De Montfort University, UK on 27 April 2023.
Natasha is the Programme Leader - Business Management BA (Hons) and a Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University. She also serves as an Executive Committee Adviser for the African Business Chamber.
After starting her career as a business educator at Monash University, Natasha joined De Montfort University in the UK at the start of 2019.
Natasha teaches cases using a variety of methods such as multimedia, critical incident, extended length cases, film, and live cases. She has also experimented with gamifying case teaching by introducing competition to motivate and inspire students.
Natasha has developed a “flipped case methodology” to case teaching, based on the principles of the flipped classroom. This pedagogical approach was documented in her article, We flipped the classroom, now we flip the case study: lessons from teaching undergraduate strategic management, in the International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies.
Recognised as an exceptional case teacher by her institution, Natasha was invited to present at the De Montfort University Teaching and Learning Conference in 2021 on the topic of Case Studies of the Future: Flipping Case Methodology as a Tool for Decolonization. Her principles of decolonisation and inclusivity using case teaching have been shared for adoption university-wide to enhance the student experience.
Natasha has also initiated a special interest group on the case method in her strategy teaching group. The improvement in student performance following their implemented initiatives around case teaching has resulted in a successful application for grant funding to pursue further academic innovations in the case method.
As well as being a passionate case teacher, Natasha writes her own cases and in 2017, won the Short Writing Case category at the John Molson MBA International Case Competition with a case on Uber.
Hear from Natasha
Natasha said: “Winning this competition is for me a validation of my practice. The consideration of the impact my approach to teaching has on students, my peers and the wider higher education community is humbling, and motivates me to continue exploring a pedagogy that has become synonymous with my call to the vocation of teaching.”
Natasha continued: “The best teacher is experience; if you can learn from another person’s experience then you have the benefit of the lesson without the scars. Case studies give students just that; lessons from practice so that they can avoid the pitfalls of preceding managers and replicate best practice where applicable. The best cases give you a chance to walk in the shoes of the organisations and protagonists and relive a scenario. This puts to test all the theory learned and pushes students to creatively make decisions.
“I have many things I am proud of in my case teaching but nothing tops inspiring the next generation of case writers and case teachers. Notably, I am achieving this with undergraduate students which was, for me, somewhat unexpected as case work requiring case writing is known to be better received by postgraduate students.”
Natasha concluded: “The success of teaching a case is the culmination of a well written case, a trained facilitator and enthusiastic learners. I am grateful for the community of case method academics who invest time in generating quality teaching and learning materials, the organisations and individuals that partner with academics to bring reality to the classroom, and the institutions that widely disseminate case method resources.”
Hear from Natasha’s students and colleagues.
“For as long as I have known her Natasha has been deeply excited about the potential to improve student learning and sustain the educator’s energy and enthusiasm through case teaching. As an undergraduate module leader, Natasha has embedded case teaching on her module through an integrated case methodology. This was based on her assessment of the impact of topical case teaching on the students in the module where she found that students were only gaining competence at a largely descriptive level but had demonstrable difficulty in the higher level strategic analytical thinking that required students to see links across their learning. Natasha used a benchmarking approach to identify two global case studies that students could use throughout the module and across topics. Since this adaptation to the delivery, there has been an increase in student engagement during workshop sessions, improved quality of strategic analysis presented by students, and overall better academic performance.
“Natasha has been influential in promoting case teaching throughout the faculty, the wider university and internationally. The channels she has exploited for dissemination of her evidence-based insights on case teaching include academic articles published in pedagogical journals, presentations at learning and teaching conferences as well as masterclasses delivered to inspire faculty on the implementation of effective case teaching. Natasha’s work is an example of best practise in teaching undergraduate strategic management using the case method. She has received internal recognition for her work in this area from students grateful for the enhancements to their learning and from faculty who have in her a valuable resource in case methods.”
“Natasha worked on my postgraduate module ‘international strategic management, markets, and resources’. I have led the module since 2019 and Natasha joined my teaching team as a seminar facilitator in 2020. Although cases were already being used on the module, Natasha introduced two structured approaches to help students engage in the sessions better. The first was The Case Centre’s 4 Step Case Analysis Framework which she used as a coaching tool in introducing students to the area of case study analysis and decision making. The second approach was the Harvard Business Method which she introduced in latter stages of the programme. Natasha was exceptional in teaching students these approaches.
“Natasha is a multifaceted case teacher with demonstrable expertise across case teaching methodology. When Natasha can’t find a case, she writes one. This is one of many reasons why I think she is a brilliant case teacher.
“Natasha’s work has been included in the institution’s submission to the Teaching Excellence Framework as an exemplar of Academic Stretch through challenging students to learn through cases in her original flipped case methodology, and by motivating students through creating opportunities for them to be involved in case writing and giving students a sense of empowerment and ownership in their learning.
“In her efforts to pioneer the case method institution-wide, Natasha has orchestrated a special interest group on case teaching and the case method under the auspices of the Centre for Academic Innovation and Teaching Excellence. She has launched case teaching related innovation projects, which have proved impactful and resulted in funding to further support the aforementioned initiatives. She has championed the need for resources dedicated to case teaching and her consistent efforts have paid off this year, with her successful funding award for case teaching.”
“I was a student in a master's class Natasha taught in international business. I was also a research candidate under her supervision on the same programme.
“Natasha has given focus to African management and business cases with an interest in female protagonists from a time when it was not seen as fashionable to do so. She gives voice to an underrepresented demographic and presents fresh perspectives on known ideas. This always made me feel, as a student, that I belonged in the business classroom, despite not being able to feel the same way from the standard textbooks and the cases featured in them.
“Natasha has been creative in putting together compact cases that are easily digestible and able to reveal the complexities of the business world. Her cases are multi-subject and have application across several areas of business management study. I found it useful to draw on the same cases across multiple modules on my programme. Natasha frequently includes multimedia to enhance, adapt and update existing cases. This really energises students who may be familiar with cases on certain organisations but are surprised to learn new things and revisit what they think they know. Natasha has good relationships with industry and has used these to create cases that are not just theory relevant but that give students an opportunity to see the practical aspects of the content. It is through these industry professionals that she has been able to introduce live evolving cases as part of her teaching approach.
“Natasha has extended her passion of cases to her students through mentoring them in case competitions. She innovated the curriculum at Monash South Africa by formally including international case study competition participation as an assessment option. This was a first in the institution's history and was well received by students.
“Natasha deserves to win this award as a unique contributor to the case method, an inspirational mentor of case students and an award-winning case writer.”
The competition was judged by Nuno Fernandes, IESE Business School; Megan Way, Babson College; David Wesley, Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business; and Vicky Lester, The Case Centre.
“Natasha’s use of cases on topics such as performing arts, theatre and movies was particularly interesting.”
“Natasha is innovating in case teaching on a wide variety of dimensions, including flipping the case in ways that bring out the unseen characters, writing cases with protagonists in emerging markets and based on film, and gamifying case analysis. She also leads as a scholar of case pedagogy, imparting her innovating methods and studying their effectiveness. Natasha’s testimonials indicate she is reaching many students that normally might not relate to the case method.”
“Natasha covers Africa, which is underrepresented, in her cases, and uses her own in the classroom. She also provides multimedia guidance that is adapted to the hybrid/online model and improves accessibility. Natasha shows a strong commitment to case teaching pedagogy including leading seminars on case teaching.”
“There are so many factors that make Natasha an outstanding case teacher, including writing cases to fill the gaps that exist in protagonist representation, transferring case knowledge to her colleagues and inspiring them to explore this method, and using student competitions to motivate her students. Natasha deserves to be recognised for her amazing approach to engaging and inspiring her students and colleagues with how she uses the case method in so many ways.”
The teacher
Natasha is the Programme Leader - Business Management BA (Hons) and a Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University. She also serves as an Executive Committee Adviser for the African Business Chamber.
After starting her career as a business educator at Monash University, Natasha joined De Montfort University in the UK at the start of 2019.
Natasha teaches cases using a variety of methods such as multimedia, critical incident, extended length cases, film, and live cases. She has also experimented with gamifying case teaching by introducing competition to motivate and inspire students.
Natasha has developed a “flipped case methodology” to case teaching, based on the principles of the flipped classroom. This pedagogical approach was documented in her article, We flipped the classroom, now we flip the case study: lessons from teaching undergraduate strategic management, in the International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies.
Recognised as an exceptional case teacher by her institution, Natasha was invited to present at the De Montfort University Teaching and Learning Conference in 2021 on the topic of Case Studies of the Future: Flipping Case Methodology as a Tool for Decolonization. Her principles of decolonisation and inclusivity using case teaching have been shared for adoption university-wide to enhance the student experience.
Natasha has also initiated a special interest group on the case method in her strategy teaching group. The improvement in student performance following their implemented initiatives around case teaching has resulted in a successful application for grant funding to pursue further academic innovations in the case method.
As well as being a passionate case teacher, Natasha writes her own cases and in 2017, won the Short Writing Case category at the John Molson MBA International Case Competition with a case on Uber.
Hear from Natasha
Natasha said: “Winning this competition is for me a validation of my practice. The consideration of the impact my approach to teaching has on students, my peers and the wider higher education community is humbling, and motivates me to continue exploring a pedagogy that has become synonymous with my call to the vocation of teaching.”
Natasha continued: “The best teacher is experience; if you can learn from another person’s experience then you have the benefit of the lesson without the scars. Case studies give students just that; lessons from practice so that they can avoid the pitfalls of preceding managers and replicate best practice where applicable. The best cases give you a chance to walk in the shoes of the organisations and protagonists and relive a scenario. This puts to test all the theory learned and pushes students to creatively make decisions.
“I have many things I am proud of in my case teaching but nothing tops inspiring the next generation of case writers and case teachers. Notably, I am achieving this with undergraduate students which was, for me, somewhat unexpected as case work requiring case writing is known to be better received by postgraduate students.”
Natasha concluded: “The success of teaching a case is the culmination of a well written case, a trained facilitator and enthusiastic learners. I am grateful for the community of case method academics who invest time in generating quality teaching and learning materials, the organisations and individuals that partner with academics to bring reality to the classroom, and the institutions that widely disseminate case method resources.”
Testimonials
Hear from Natasha’s students and colleagues.
“For as long as I have known her Natasha has been deeply excited about the potential to improve student learning and sustain the educator’s energy and enthusiasm through case teaching. As an undergraduate module leader, Natasha has embedded case teaching on her module through an integrated case methodology. This was based on her assessment of the impact of topical case teaching on the students in the module where she found that students were only gaining competence at a largely descriptive level but had demonstrable difficulty in the higher level strategic analytical thinking that required students to see links across their learning. Natasha used a benchmarking approach to identify two global case studies that students could use throughout the module and across topics. Since this adaptation to the delivery, there has been an increase in student engagement during workshop sessions, improved quality of strategic analysis presented by students, and overall better academic performance.
“Natasha has been influential in promoting case teaching throughout the faculty, the wider university and internationally. The channels she has exploited for dissemination of her evidence-based insights on case teaching include academic articles published in pedagogical journals, presentations at learning and teaching conferences as well as masterclasses delivered to inspire faculty on the implementation of effective case teaching. Natasha’s work is an example of best practise in teaching undergraduate strategic management using the case method. She has received internal recognition for her work in this area from students grateful for the enhancements to their learning and from faculty who have in her a valuable resource in case methods.”
“Natasha worked on my postgraduate module ‘international strategic management, markets, and resources’. I have led the module since 2019 and Natasha joined my teaching team as a seminar facilitator in 2020. Although cases were already being used on the module, Natasha introduced two structured approaches to help students engage in the sessions better. The first was The Case Centre’s 4 Step Case Analysis Framework which she used as a coaching tool in introducing students to the area of case study analysis and decision making. The second approach was the Harvard Business Method which she introduced in latter stages of the programme. Natasha was exceptional in teaching students these approaches.
“Natasha is a multifaceted case teacher with demonstrable expertise across case teaching methodology. When Natasha can’t find a case, she writes one. This is one of many reasons why I think she is a brilliant case teacher.
“Natasha’s work has been included in the institution’s submission to the Teaching Excellence Framework as an exemplar of Academic Stretch through challenging students to learn through cases in her original flipped case methodology, and by motivating students through creating opportunities for them to be involved in case writing and giving students a sense of empowerment and ownership in their learning.
“In her efforts to pioneer the case method institution-wide, Natasha has orchestrated a special interest group on case teaching and the case method under the auspices of the Centre for Academic Innovation and Teaching Excellence. She has launched case teaching related innovation projects, which have proved impactful and resulted in funding to further support the aforementioned initiatives. She has championed the need for resources dedicated to case teaching and her consistent efforts have paid off this year, with her successful funding award for case teaching.”
“I was a student in a master's class Natasha taught in international business. I was also a research candidate under her supervision on the same programme.
“Natasha has given focus to African management and business cases with an interest in female protagonists from a time when it was not seen as fashionable to do so. She gives voice to an underrepresented demographic and presents fresh perspectives on known ideas. This always made me feel, as a student, that I belonged in the business classroom, despite not being able to feel the same way from the standard textbooks and the cases featured in them.
“Natasha has been creative in putting together compact cases that are easily digestible and able to reveal the complexities of the business world. Her cases are multi-subject and have application across several areas of business management study. I found it useful to draw on the same cases across multiple modules on my programme. Natasha frequently includes multimedia to enhance, adapt and update existing cases. This really energises students who may be familiar with cases on certain organisations but are surprised to learn new things and revisit what they think they know. Natasha has good relationships with industry and has used these to create cases that are not just theory relevant but that give students an opportunity to see the practical aspects of the content. It is through these industry professionals that she has been able to introduce live evolving cases as part of her teaching approach.
“Natasha has extended her passion of cases to her students through mentoring them in case competitions. She innovated the curriculum at Monash South Africa by formally including international case study competition participation as an assessment option. This was a first in the institution's history and was well received by students.
“Natasha deserves to win this award as a unique contributor to the case method, an inspirational mentor of case students and an award-winning case writer.”
Judges viewpoint
The competition was judged by Nuno Fernandes, IESE Business School; Megan Way, Babson College; David Wesley, Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business; and Vicky Lester, The Case Centre.
“Natasha’s use of cases on topics such as performing arts, theatre and movies was particularly interesting.”
“Natasha is innovating in case teaching on a wide variety of dimensions, including flipping the case in ways that bring out the unseen characters, writing cases with protagonists in emerging markets and based on film, and gamifying case analysis. She also leads as a scholar of case pedagogy, imparting her innovating methods and studying their effectiveness. Natasha’s testimonials indicate she is reaching many students that normally might not relate to the case method.”
“Natasha covers Africa, which is underrepresented, in her cases, and uses her own in the classroom. She also provides multimedia guidance that is adapted to the hybrid/online model and improves accessibility. Natasha shows a strong commitment to case teaching pedagogy including leading seminars on case teaching.”
“There are so many factors that make Natasha an outstanding case teacher, including writing cases to fill the gaps that exist in protagonist representation, transferring case knowledge to her colleagues and inspiring them to explore this method, and using student competitions to motivate her students. Natasha deserves to be recognised for her amazing approach to engaging and inspiring her students and colleagues with how she uses the case method in so many ways.”
