Abstract:

The paper demonstrates the importance of using the case study method in the preparation of engineering students, especially those in the last year of undergraduate and master's studies. Therefore, the first part of the paper summarizes the advantages of the case study method in the managerial and educational literature, as well as the importance given to this method by specialists. The second part of the paper is based on the case study method and the interview technique. Therefore, this part consists of a comparison between several student groups that have used this method in their last year of undergraduate or master's studies in a Romanian engineering faculty. The analysed student groups have graduated between 2019 and 2022 and had been coordinated by the author of this paper in various projects based on case studies developed in industrial companies from Sibiu County, Romania. Whether the case studies have aimed at completing a semester project for a particular subject, or have aimed at completing the bachelor's/dissertation paper, one common conclusion is that students are increasingly attracted to this method that provides them a better connection with the industrial environment. Furthermore, discussions with the authors of the case studies have led to underlining the decrease of managers’ reluctance towards the importance of case studies carried out by the future graduates in their companies. Thus, in the period after the Covid-19 pandemic, respectively in March 2022-July 2022, we found a greater interest of managers in the results of these case studies, compared to the interest shown by them in January 2019-February 2022.

Keywords:

Case study, students, engineer, master.