Saturday, March 1st, 2008...4:35 pm
Using Case Studies in Science Education
I’ve been successfully using the case studies found on the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science website. I’ve used them with my AP Biology students. While some of them have been a lot of fun, others were a bit too advanced for even an AP level course.
Here are my teacher-tested, favorite cases:
- My Dog is Broken - cell signaling pathways. The dog has erectile dysfunction so the students thought it was pretty hilarious.
- Gender: Is it in the Genes or in the Jeans? - differences in males and females.
- Woe to that Child - good after the unit on cell organelles and osmolarity.
- I’m Looking Over a White-Striped Clover - natural selection.
- Why Sex is Good - advantages of sexual reproduction. For obvious reasons the students loved this one.
- A Bad Reaction - immune system. The students felt like doctors straight out of House or ER (okay, maybe more like Scrubs).
I loved the immune system case study so much that I created this powerpoint in order to present the case. You can also download the pre-case study notes I use here.
There are still several I plan on using this year, but since I haven’t tested them out yet, I’ll wait to see if I should recommend them. If anyone reading this post has tried out other cases studies either found on the same website or elsewhere, I’d love to hear about your experience!
13 Comments
March 2nd, 2008 at 5:05 am
Stacy, I would love to hear how you use the case studies. I was planning on using case studies for my 9th graders this year but due to a variety of events, it didn’t happen. It would have been my first attempt and I was planning on using them to identify the principle and practicing good science. I would love to hear your ideas!
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I haven’t used any of the case studies from the Nat. Center for Case Studies with my 9 graders. Most of them are written for undergraduates and would need a lot of editing to make them work with 9th graders. But, I think there are a few (like the white-striped clover case) that could work.
I do have one case study that I would strongly recommend for 9th graders. I used the case during my ecology unit as it covers trophic levels, symbiosis, the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on ecosystems, and climate change. It’s called A Cooperative Classroom Investigation of Climate Change on the Antarctic Peninsula. You can find it under the “cross-curricular lessons” heading on that website.
In this case study the class gets broken into research teams from different countries. Each team consists of specialists (marine biologist, meteorologist, oceanographers, etc.). The specialist from each team then goes and meets with the same specialists from the other teams. They collect and analyze data. Once the specialist teams are finished, they rejoin their research team. Each specialist presents their information to their research team. What I really loved about this case is that since there is only one of each type of specialist per team, that specialist must provide a strong analysis of their data for the team. The team is depending on that specialist to provide good information because the team will use that information to form a final analysis. Usually group work involves one or two students doing all of the work while the other members do little, but this case study makes that impossible. Everyone has to work hard.
To make this case really fun I made name tags for everyone and then held a conference for the entire 9th grade (4 classes total) to attend. Fortunately, my school has a study hall or this wouldn’t have been possible. If you don’t have a study hall you can maybe entice students to stay after school (maybe offer bonus points?). During the conference, specialists mingled with specialists from different classrooms in order to discuss their data. I had beverages and snacks for everyone. It was incredibly fun and mimicked the process of science and community in science so well.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Hi Stacy, Just wanted to thank you for sharing your expertise. As a bio teacher with 26 years of teaching behind me I have just learned that I am officially known as a “technology immigrant” as opposed to a “technology native”! I am enjoying integrating technology into instruction but it doesn’t come naturally. Your examples have been really helpful to me and the links you have given have pointed me in directions to sites that have been perfect and easily integrated into my teaching. Thanks so very much for sharing!
March 5th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Wonderful! I’m thrilled that I’ve been helpful to you. You (and your students) are the reason I have this blog. Once you become quite comfortable with all this tech stuff you should start your own. I’m sure there is a lot that I could learn from you as well.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 am
Stacy,
Thank you for sharing this incredible idea. It seems like every year the quality time in class goes down and the time to venture into analysis of current science research topics is what takes the hit. The use of your blogs is such a terrific way to solve this problem! I can also see this as a method to pull the parents into the conversation. I have many parents with science backgrounds that would be very interested in joining the blog. Thanks!
June 17th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Stacy,
I’m new to blogging and I’m viewing blogs for a course I’m taking (web tools for science ed at MSU). Thanks for letting me be an interloper here.
I teach at a community college in various bio courses. I’ve used the case studies from the UBuffalo center, too. They are especially helpful in non-majors intro bio. Many of the adult learners haven’t been to school in many years. The cases bring a reality to their science ed, and help them with their language skills, too. I give a sprinkling of writing assignments tied to cases through the semester to help develop critical thinking skills. One of my favorites, like yours, is Why Sex is Good. Catchy phrase, whether for teens, young or older adults. There is a piece at PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/sex/advantage/
that parallels the case study quite nicely.
Also appropriate for your age group would be “It’s Just a Bottle of Water”. I haven’t tried the doggy dysfunction case yet, but, I’d like to work it in. The semester if just too short! Cheers.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Stacy- I am a newbie AP biology teacher getting ready for next year and I want to use blogs with my students. I am so excited to have found your blog. Thanks for setting this up.
Regarding the case studies, I was recently turned on to this idea of using case studies from another teacher and am so excited to try this new method. I also teach anatomy/physiology and will definitely use the cases there.
One question- I am having difficulty downloading the case study PPT you posted on slideshare. It is saying it is an ODP file (?) and my computer doesn’t recognize this filetype. Your biology of love PPT downloaded fine. Any tips on converting this ODP file into a ppt file for wasy download??
June 26th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Hi Cyndi,
Save the file to your computer, but don’t open it. Go to http://www.zamzar.com and use the free tool to convert it to ppt format. Zamzar emails you a link to the converted file that you will then download.
Let me know if that didn’t work!
Stacy
June 28th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Stacy- Zamzar didn’t work. I tried it 3 different times thinking that it might be server issue at busier times of day and all three times, I got an error message.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
It may not have worked because it is such a huge file size (13mb). I can break the file up into smaller parts and put it up on another website. I’ll let you know when I’ve done this and send you the link. It will probably be Tuesday or Wednesday before I can do it.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:52 am
Thanks. No hurry! It’ll be MONTHS before I get to teaching immunology. I am so excited to try these case studies with my anatomy class. They seem like a great way to make content relevant to students.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I converted the Open Office file to PPT and uploaded it to the following website:
http://www.box.net/shared/pbj3rorkg0
There may be a few minor details lost in the conversion so I would check it with the slideshare version to make sure it looks right.
Hope this one works for you!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:43 am
Worked great! Thanks!
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