If I were teaching someone to ride a horse or play an instrument I wouldn't put them in a large lecture hall and tell them how to do it. I would lend them an instrument or get them on a horse. This means the problem is encountered first in the learning process. This is relatively easy because homeopathic practice is intrinsically problem-based in nature. So we go through two years of lectures, listening, reading, studying, memorizing, and regurgitating the information before having an opportunity to deal with real situations.
Students break into groups and make a list of the characteristics of the case.
They write their lists on the board and we have a class discussion about the differences between the lists. The discussion facilitates the students' learning about what types of information are important in homeopathic analysis. Interestingly, one doesn't have to know anything about homeopathy to do this activity. The point is that I can teach the skill of characterizing a case by having students discover it. They then go home and try it a few times, refining a new skill.