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Weaving Case Studies Into Your Course

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Jill wiped away a tear as she sat down for breakfast. ... She stormed into their bedroom and collapsed on their bed, sobbing. Steve ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Weaving Case Studies Into Your Course


1
Weaving Case Studies Into Your Course
  • Eric Ribbens
  • Department of Biology
  • Western Illinois University

2
What is a Case?
  • A good case is
  • A story
  • Sets up a problem
  • Expects students to solve a problem or predict
    outcomes
  • In other words students have to figure it out,
    not have the prof tell them the answer!

3
Why Use Cases?
  • Active learning
  • Engage students
  • Force them to apply concepts
  • Higher-order thinking
  • Ideally
  • Increase understanding
  • Better concept retention
  • Learn to think outside box what does this
    image say?

4
Experiencing A Case
  • Im going to assume you agree with me that cases
    are a good idea (but feel free to email me if you
    have questions about why I think this is so
  • E-Ribbens_at_wiu.edu)
  • Heres an example of a case

5
Jill
  • Jill wiped away a tear as she sat down for
    breakfast. The home pregnancy kit she had just
    used had clearly indicated that she was not
    pregnant.
  • Why? she wondered. I just want a baby!
  • Jill and Steve had been trying to get pregnant
    for over three years now with no success.

6
She Turned on the Radio
  • The announcers voice boomed out Do fish from
    Lake Ontario prevent pregnancy? Study says yes!!!
    Women who eat fish from Lake Ontario are more
    likely to have menstruation problems, take longer
    to get pregnant, and may have altered levels of
    estrogen. So, if you forgot to take the
    pill....just eat some fish!

7
  • The announcer moved on to another topic, after
    cracking a joke about how fishermen were going to
    disappear because they couldnt have babies.
  • Jill began to cry. It was those fish, it had to
    be those fish. She was going to dig through the
    freezer, throw all the fish away, and break
    Steves fishing rods!
  • She stormed into their bedroom and collapsed on
    their bed, sobbing.

8
Steve
  • Steve ambled into the bedroom from the bathroom,
    where he had been shaving, to find Jill sobbing
    on the bed. Whats wrong, honey? he asked,
    cuddling her. In between hiccuping sobs Jill told
    him what
    the radio
    announcer had said.

9
Another Perspective
  • That doesnt sound right, Steve thought. He
    grabbed his bedside copy of the Lake Ontario
    Sport Fisherman magazine and flipped through to a
    page summarizing recent news related to the great
    lakes. Isnt this the same study? Steve
    thought? He read

10
Another Study Proves Lake Ontario Fish are Safe
to Eat
  • Not only is it a great thrill to catch a big fish
    out of Lake Ontario, but now scientists have also
    shown the fish really are safe to eat. Some
    environmentalists have been worrying that PCB
    contamination in Lake Ontario might get into the
    big finnies. Although
    PCBs are some of the most stable chemicals
    around, some people

    worry that they might
    affect reproduction.

11
Lake Ontario Fish Safe
  • Even though PCB levels in Lake Ontario have been
    decreasing, some UB researchers tracked women who
    eat fish from the lake. And the news is indeed
    reassuring. Menstrual cycles were a mere 12 hours
    shorter, and the amount of fish ingested had no
    significant effect on the time it took to become
    pregnant.
  • So ladies, get your spatula out! These fish are
    fun to catch . . . and good to eat!!!

12
  • Steve read the news release to Jill. After
    hearing it, Jill was completely confused. Which
    story was right? She picked up the telephone and
    dialed her best friends number. Laura was a
    nurse who worked for a pediatrician. They had
    gone to school together, dated together, and now
    they exercised together and dreamed of children
    together.
  • Laura! Jill cried. Did you hear that
  • maybe I cant get pregnant because of those
    fish Steve keeps catching! Laura firmly
    replied Calm down Jill, and tell me the whole
    story. I read about that study too, and it
    doesnt sound that bad to me!

13
Jills Case
  • We could go a variety of paths from here
  • Which version is right? How should science be
    reported?
  • thats what I use this case for I would now give
    students a handout of an actual news release, and
    ask them to compare the three versions which is
    right? Why? (all have problems, it turns out)
  • Could also ask things like
  • Why would toxins affect reproductive health?
  • Whats bioaccumulation?
  • What are PCBs, and why are they a concern?

14
Cases Pros and Cons
  • Pros
  • Increased retention
  • Higher-order thinking
  • Active learning
  • Cons
  • Departmental concerns cover fewer concepts?
  • Student resistance and classroom management

15
Managing Departmental Concerns
  • 1 Dont go out on a limb, especially if not
    tenured
  • 2 Get your department heads approval
  • 3 Emphasize positives
  • Better retention
  • Active learning (deans love that phrase)
  • Higher-order conceptualization
  • 4 Be able to show how you are still teaching the
    course concepts
  • 5 Consider assessment (surveys, save tests,
    etc.)
  • 6 Get your tenure work done too!

16
Managing Student Concerns
  • Probably a bigger issue than department!
  • Students find lectures boring, but they
    understand lectures
  • Three overall strategies
  • 1 Emphasize positive!
  • 2 Make it fun
  • 3 Students really want relevance

17
But the biggest problem you
  • You know how to lecture. You are probably good at
    it. Its safe. Cases are scary to teach.
  • What if it goes wrong?
  • What if you dont know the answer?
  • What if students dont do what you want them to?
  • What if they really dont learn anything?
  • What if?
  • What if?
  • What if?

18
So How Do You Do It?
  • If youve never taught cases before
  • Get started slowly try one or two cases in a
    semester
  • Issues to consider
  • Time management students ALWAYS take longer to
    solve a problem than you think they should.
  • Classroom management shut up and get out of the
    way. Turn the problem over to them as soon as you
    can.
  • Let them struggle. Dont tell them the solution.
    Learn how to ask leading questions.
  • Dont disappear! Wander around. Ask questions.
    Keep them focused on the problem.

19
LET THEM FAIL!
Students are never more receptive to learning
than after theyve discovered they dont know the
answer.
20
Expect Creativity
  • Be flexible
  • Know your case thoroughly

21
More Seriously Teaching Cases
  • You will need to teach your students how to do
    cases
  • I use informal small groups a lot
  • Need to teach them the positives smart students
    learn from explaining to others, struggling
    students learn from the smart ones
  • Be tough you will have some students who really
    want to work alone. Dont let them!
  • Hold them accountable smaller classes I often
    have writing assignments, smaller and larger
    classes I use clickers for immediate assessment
  • Include questions about the cases on your tests

22
Even More Important Course Reconceptualization
  • What are your course goals?
  • How do you most effectively meet them?
  • Getting out of the I gotta teach everything
    trap
  • Expect more from your students you have a good
    textbook. Use it!
  • Focus on what will be important for them to know
    6 months later, or a year later. Concepts over
    facts.
  • Remember the ultimate goal for you (or anyone
    else as a teacher) to be obsolete! Move your
    students towards being able to learn on their own

23
What I Did
  • Intro biology course
  • Split into 14 topics (roughly one per week)
  • Identified three core concepts for each topic
  • Identified essential textbook coverage of each
    topic and designed two hours of lecture about the
    topic
  • Identified a case to illuminate or explore some
    aspect of one of the topics (or a test)
  • Wrote my tests from the list of topics and core
    concepts
  • Began my course by teaching students about cases
    and about how to read the textbook

24
Results
  • Slightly better student grades
  • Slightly worse student evaluations
  • I liked this course, but Dr. Ribbens didnt do
    much teaching
  • I really didnt like the cases. They made me
    think, and Im much better at memorizing facts.
  • More preparation required you really need to
    know the case and rethink the entire class to use
    cases extensively
  • More enjoyable teaching I had fun!

25
OK, Your Turn
  • Get into small groups.
  • Identify one or more potential advantages of
    using cases, lots of cases
  • Identify one or more questions about this idea
  • The 710-OIL concept identify one out-of-the-box
    question
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