For the last four years I have been using case studies in my biology classes. I learned about the NCCSTS and case study teaching during my time in SPIRE. The first year I taught intro bio at UNC Pembroke, the SPIRE scholar who as taught the class before me helped me as I was preparing and pointed me to a case study she had used called "The Secret of Popcorn Popping Water Power at the Cellular Level". I liked it and adopted it when I taught the class as well. Since then I have moved from using just one case study, to on average about 5-10 per semester (almost one every week in my genetics class). I really enjoy integrating them, and I think the students enjoy it too. I was interested in writing my own as there were some topics I wanted to have a case for that didn't yet have a case published.
My best description of the NCCSTS summer workshop: a 5-day intensive learning bonanza! I loved it. You learn how to write a case, but in true active learning style (it would be ironic if it were taught any other way!) we participated in many different cases to really learn how to write one. And, at the end of the week you had to have written an entire case and presented it to real students! It was true immersion learning. We did have 3 talks from professors who use the case study teaching method a lot, and they gave us great tips, but most of the workshop we were either writing/editing our own case or participating in different styles of cases. Case studies can take many forms- they can be whole class discussions, small group work, and clicker lecture format etc. This workshop was wonderfully facilitated primarily by Dr. Clyde Freeman Herreid. One of the early points he had us discuss, was why you would use case studies in teaching science: the power of a story.
Telling a story, engages the listener. Instead of just talking a about how mutations in a protein can lead to a change in its shape in class, I can frame that content as a conversation between a doctor and a patient grappling with a diagnosis of sickle cell anemia through a case study. It gives the student something to connect to, a framework.
In his introduction to "Start With a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science", Dr. Herried describes case studies succinctly as "stories with an educational message." He continues, "What's the magic of stories? People love stories. Stories put learning into context."
I completely agree, and feedback from my students have confirmed this. Also remember, the case study method has long been used successfully in other disciplines (e.g. law, medicine, business).
When I teach with case studies, I often feel more engaged. Active learning techniques are so much more invigorating to teach with! I am also happy that all the studies show that active learning- any way that the student engages with the material rather than passively try to absorb it- helps learning outcomes.
The NCCSTS publishes the case studies through a double blind peer review. You can access all the case studies at www.nccsts.org, and all the teaching resources for a small fee.
As my summer teaching is finished, I am trying to revise and publish the case study I wrote at the workshop and to also write another case study, this time on CRISPR, to use next semester...!
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