case-based learning workshop margaret waterman ethel stanley southeast missouri state...

Case-Based Learning Workshop

Margaret Waterman Ethel StanleySoutheast Missouri State University Beloit College

April 12-13, 2002, Center for Biology Education

University of Wisconsin, Madison

“America’s basic research in science, mathematics and engineering is world-class...”

“Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology”

NSF, 1996. p. iii

... most of its population is virtually illiterate in science”

“Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology” NSF, 1996. p. iii

NSF recommends that faculty:

“Build into every course inquiry*, the processes of science, a knowledge of what practitioners do, and the excitement of cutting edge research.”

* “involving the student in asking questions and finding answers” (p. 53)

“Devise and use pedagogy that develops skills for communications, teamwork, critical thinking and lifelong learning in each student. . .”

“Start with the student’s experience . . . and relate the subject matter to things the student already knows.”

(pp. 65-66, NSF, 1996)

Strategies

How do we bring these elements

into science education?

Strategies

One way is to implement case-based learning in the classroom.

“There are lots of good fish in the sea.” W. S. Gilbert, The Mikado

Other good fish

Locus of Control

Nature of the Learning Task Social

Environment

InternalExternal

Authentic

Contrived

IndividualResponsibility

GroupResponsibility

Wim Gijselaers, 2000

National Institute for ScienceEducation (NISE)

“The LT2 Website” Learning Through Technology

http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School. National Research Council, National Academy Press, 2000.

“…a new theory of learning is coming into focus that leads to very different approaches to design of curriculum, teaching and assessment…” (p.3)

How People Learn

Emphasis on learning with understanding (p. 9).

Experts have usable knowledge• A rich body of subject matter• Organized around concepts• Knows when to apply

How People Learn

Learners come “to formal education with a range of prior knowledge, skills, beliefs and concepts”

• These affect what learners notice,• how they reason and solve problems,• how they remember (p.10).

Prior Knowledge

Most students bring personal experience and “informed” views about the nature of the biological world.

How People Learn

People construct new knowledge based on what they already know.

“Constructivists assume that all knowledge is constructed from previous knowledge, irrespective of how one is taught . . .” (p. 11).

Classroom reality: Constructing knowledge together

How People Learn

“… people must learn to recognize when they understand and when they need more information”

Metacognition - “People’s abilities to predict [their own] performance . . . and to monitor their current levels of mastery and understanding” (p. 12)

How People Learn:Instructional Implications Provide multiple examples, multiple

contexts for in-depth subject matter Use a variety of approaches Engage prior knowledge Use self-assessment and reflection

as practices to teach metacognition• pp. 14-21

So, where do cases fit?

Cases: Definition

A case study is a narrative - often with characters facing decisions or a dilemma.

A case defines a problem space that

learners will investigate.

Start ICBL Case Work“Derrick’s Malaise”

A Case By Any Other Name...

Problem Based Learning - PBL Investigative Case Based Learning -

ICBL Case study approach Case method Context-based learning Anchored learning Learning from stories Teaching with the news

Elements in Common

All use realistically complex problems

All are multidisciplinary

All ask learners to consider the events, decisions, facts

Cases provide learners with an opportunity to:

• Engage with characters and circumstances.

• Investigate to understand facts, values, contexts, and decisions.

• Connect the meaning of the story to their own lives

Variations on a Theme

What is the role of the instructor?

One extreme:John Houseman’s Socratic Method

in “Paper Chase”


another extreme:

No instructor role

beyond assigning case and grading products


Drawing by Neal Atebara, 1987. Used with permission.

Try Middle

Ground

When do instructors use cases?

•At the beginning of the topic •After topic is complete•Throughout - the case work is

the instruction•Before lab•After lab•At exam time

Why do instructors use cases?

• To apply abstract ideas to complex problems

• To initiate investigations• To assess knowledge and skills• To contextualize subject matter• To develop global and multicultural

perspectives• To see value of interdisciplinarity • To develop metacognitive skills

How do instructors expect the students to work with cases?

• Solo• In groups• Fully prepared in advance of the case

discussion• “Open” the case first in class• Use only the information in the case • Consult additional resources• Should all get the same answer?

Clue in to cases

Colonel Mustard, Library, Candlestick

Small Group, Before Lab, Forensic Problem

Introduction to Using Cases

Using cases looks like . . .

A first day pre-assessment

Small group interactions within a

lecture session

A pre-lab activity to focus on safety

issues

A writing assignment after a video

A whole-class problem-solving

session

An exam question to assess

knowledge and skills

Using cases looks like . . .

Doing cases looks like . . .• developing collaborative approaches to problem

solving

• initiating investigations

• assessing what they know/need to know

• making and supporting decisions

• learning specific subject matter

• valuing interdisciplinary knowledge

• developing and testing skills

• producing artifacts that assist others in learning content

Using Cases: Pre-Assessment

Cases can be used as a starting place for assessing what the learner already knows.

Using Cases: Pre-Assessment

What the learner wants to know partially reveals how this knowledge is connected.

Using Cases - Pre-assessment

http://cstl.semo.edu/waterman/ll2001finalprojects/htm2001modules/HOW%20NOW%20MAD%20COW_files/frame.htm

+

Biological Molecules: Proteins

Using Cases - Pre-assessment

"I read on the Internet that you can get Mad Cow Disease from Altoids."

The RumorYou overhear friends discussing risks associated with breath mints. What biological information can you offer to allay their fears?

"Well, they are made in Great Britain and they do have gelatin in them.”

Using Cases: Take-Home Exam

30% Biology Majors65% Preservice Teachers 5% Other Majors

Teaching Dilemma in Introductory Botany


Critical knowledge and skills in basic plant morphology to prepare scientists

Relevant learning experiences that are valuable in personaland professional lives


Scenario: 14 week-old puppy that “chews everything” found dead in back yard

Resources for each student:• prepared slide of suspect plant material• list of back yard plants by gardener


Submit a memo reporting your findings as a forensics specialist:

Provide an identification of the plant material with evidence to support choices:

• root, stem, or leaf• dicot or monocot• herbaceous or woody


:Write a short letter to the pet owner advising the family to remove the poisonous plant from their back yard:

Provide a description of the plant as it would look during flowering and be sure to include:

• common and scientific name• habitat preference• danger to humans

Using Cases: Lab Technologyhttp://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/lucre1.html

FILTHY LUCRE:A Case Study Involving the Chemical Detection of Cocaine-Contaminated Currency

Ed AchesonDepartment of ChemistryMillikin University, Decatur, IL

Using Cases: Lab Technology

Tom Brown [was daydreaming while standing in the security line at the airport.] He was in a particularly good mood because Grandma Brown had given him $200 in cash as a Christmas present ... Tom had tucked the cash into his carry-on.

"Sir?” repeated a loud voice. “We have detected evidence of illegal drugs and will need to search your carry-on.”


Tom’s cash ($200 in ones) will be treated with methanol to extract any cocaine present in the money. The extract will then be injected into the gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer (GC/MS), which will determine if any cocaine is present.


•Roll the bill and place it into a clean vial.

•Add 2 mL of methanol to the vial.

•Cap the vial and shake for 1 minute.

•Using a glass Pasteur pipette, transfer enough methanol to an autosampler vial to fill the vial about three-quarters full.

•Remove the bill from the vial when you are finished using a forceps.

Using Cases - Multicultural Perspectives

John Kepaaq is a member of the Tribal Council of his Alaskan village.

John wants to be sure that the sewage system proposed for the village is appropriate for the cold temperatures and safe for the tundra environment.

http://cstl.semo.edu/waterman/ll2001finalprojects/htm2001modules/goodbye%20honeybuckets2_files/frame.htm

Using Cases: Biology Past

In the 1840’s, Late Blight devastated the potato crop which resulted in mass starvation and forced migration of the human population.

Using Cases: Simulating Late Blight

Using Cases - Writing Assignment

http://bioquest.org/lifelines/fract.html

Using Cases - As Resources for Writing Cases

“As she was handing her sister-in-law a mug of coffee on a warm morning in July, Tisha realized she couldn't move her left arm very far in front of her.”

The Case of the Older Shoulder

http://carbon.hampshire.edu/~mbruno/ns121/index.html

Using Cases - Using Models

http://bioquest.org/simbio2.html


Sim-Bio2 Elisabeth C. Odum Santa Fe Community College H. T. Odum University of Florida-Gainesville

Finding Cases

http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/case.html

Finding Cases

https://www.mis4.udel.edu/Pbl/

Finding Cases

http://bioquest.org/lifelines/index.html

Finding Cases

http://www.uwrf.edu/caseit/caseit.html

Finding Cases

http://www.asmusa.org/edusrc/souvenir/index.html

Adapting Cases - Building a Multidisciplinary Case

http://cstl.semo.edu/biocases/Alans%20files/radioactive_case.htm

Choose an existing case that offers connections you can work with.

Adapting Cases -Building a Multidisciplinary Casehttp://cstl.semo.edu/biocases/Alans%20files/radioactive_case.htm

Two junk dealers, Robert Alves and Wagner Mota Pereira, wander thru downtown Goiânia gathering material to sell to old iron shops. At the place known as “The Hole of Holly House” (demolished a few. years before), they penetrate into the ruins of what once was the Institute of Radiotherapy of Goiás. They find what seems to be a valuable thing - an object all covered in lead

Adapting Cases - Adding Calculus

http://www.math.duke.edu/education/ccp/materials/diffcalc/radwas/

Adapting Cases - Adding Calculus

http://www.math.duke.edu/education/ccp/materials/diffcalc/raddec/raddec3.html

Warning: Case in Use

Angela sighed as she held a copy of Derrick’s Malaise. “I’m supposed to come up with my own problems for study in this bio course?” she asked no one in particular.

She re-read the short case.

Case in Use

“What caused Derrick’s malaria?” Angela thought. The only thing Angela knew about malaria was that people got it when they lived in other countries.

Case in Use

Angela noticed other students going to the computers or leafing through books at the front of the room. She decided to go to a computer herself.

Using Google, she looked up malaria and found the Mosquito Bytes site.

Case in Use

http://whyfiles.org/016skeeter/malaria2.html

Case in Use

When the teacher walked by, he saw this on Angela’s screen.

Preparing Students to Use Cases http://www.bioquest.org/snotes2.html

Assessment – Students

You can look for

• their participation and contribution to work in groups, • the kinds of issues they identify, • the questions they develop, • the investigations they propose, • where and how they locate resources,• how they conduct investigations, and • the presentations they make.


· actively acquiring information about a biological topic within this problem space?· re-organizing this information?· using strategies to select resources beyond text materials?· using a problem-oriented approach? (Is there a question for investigation?)· collaborating with other individuals in problem posing or problem solving?

You might ask if students are:


· choosing among alternative approaches to solve problems?· negotiating, arguing, or attempting to convince others?· generating graphs, tables, charts, or other graphics?· presenting conclusions?· presenting evidence to support their conclusions?· generating further questions as a result of this activity

Are students:

Assessment – Example Using Directed Case

https://www.mis4.udel.edu/Pbl/

Out of Control

Parks Canada along with environmental groups have a new concern about snow geese - there has been a population explosion of them in the past 25-30 years. In 1970 the population of snow geese was about 2 million, but in the late 1990's, it was 5 million.

Assessment – Example using Directed Case

Questions

1. By what methods could biologists have determined the size of the snow goose population?

2. What conditions in the winter feeding grounds could have allowed the increase in the snow goose population?

3. Draw a curve (very rough sketch) showing the population dynamics of snow geese from the early 1900's to the present. What role, if any, did K have in regulating the snow goose population in the early 1900's? in the 1990's?

Assessment – Example Using Directed Case

Question 3 should be answered by considering logarithmic (exponential) growth of a population and what the growth curve looks like. The carrying capacity (K) in early 1900's, when geese were restricted to marshes around gulf, probably limited growth, but K increased with agriculture providing additional food. The death rate decreased with hunting restrictions imposed. So with K raised, females probably had enough resources for successful reproduction, and with d decreased, growth may have gotten closer to r max. Since goslings can walk far, K is not limiting (yet) in summer feeding grounds. If they could not walk, then K of the salt marshes would limit growth of the population.

Assessment – How well did it go?

• How well does the activity work as a learning tool with your students?

• Was the time allotted for exploration adequate?

• Were the students able to generate questions that they could investigate? • Was there a problem with the case in this regard - too vague, difficult, long, not challenging enough?

Assessment – How well did it go?

• Did student discussion generally address the objectives of the activity? Were there any other important objectives that should be included?

• Were the students able to locate additional resources? Were the materials useful?

• How well did the activity fit with the other lectures, labs, discussions, and recitations?

• What worked especially well?

Claims, Evidence & QuestionsWim Gijselaers

Universiteit Maastricht

Presented at

Samford University PBL Conference, 2000

Why PBL?

http://www.ac.cc.md.us/Department/math.html/pblsam.ppt

next 3 slides

Active Ingredients of PBL

Prior KnowledgePrior Knowledge

Quality of ProblemsQuality of Problems

Tutor BehaviorTutor Behavior

QualityPBL Tutorial

QualityPBL Tutorial

Time spenton self-studyTime spenton self-study

AchievementAchievement

Intrinsic InterestIntrinsic Interest

.37

.42

.21

.14

.57.32

.43

.37

-.24

.51

.11

.19

% expl. = 37

% expl. = 50

Gijselaers & Schmidt (1990). In Innovation in Med. Ed. NY: SpringerVan Berkel & Schmidt (2000). Higher Education, 40, 231-242

case-based learning workshop margaret waterman ethel stanley southeast missouri state...

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