For students, the early years at universities can be discouraging as they may face large classes, limited interaction with instructors, and a disconnection between the scholarly experience they might have expected to encounter and that which they in fact endure. In this article the authors describe a case study project (CSP) designed specifically for instructors wishing to challenge students who are interested in engaging in active self-learning and having the enriched academic experience they might have looked forward to upon starting their studies. This article first provides an explanation of the background and motivation for the CSP. The authors next provide the theory behind the CSP approach, and describe and report on the particular application of the CSP. Finally, they present and discuss the results of several assessment measures designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the case study on learning as it pertains to student learning outcomes and students' perceptions of their learning experiences using the CSP. The documentation for the study is presented in Appendices I, II, III and IV. (Contains 2 tables and 33 footnotes.)