Cases, Social Networking, and Workspaces: Introducing The Case Study and PBL Network

Ethel Stanley, BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium, Beloit College

CASES

In the first plenary session, we heard Jay Labov describe the the potential for cases to address problem centered interdisciplinary STEM education.

Cases can provide open opportunities for collaborative exploration of emerging technologies, data literacy, and quantitative reasoning as well as an opportunity to attract students to science who want to solve real-world problems.

Students experience science as consumers, not producers.

Cases can offer “real world relevance, ill-defined challenges, sustained investigation using multiple sources . . . Students situate their learning in authentic contexts, tackle ambiguity, hone their decision-making skills, acknowledge multiple perspectives, and practice the type of negotiation required of them as professionals” (Lombardi, 2007 p.3).

However, case study and PBL pedagogies, while documented as effective for science learning, are not as widely used as they might be.

Can we draw together the expertise and resources of existing, but essentially independent, centers for case study and PBL to support educators in adopting these pedagogies?

The majority of undergraduates now take their initial (and often final) STEM course at a two year institution. The majority of the re-training of adult workers in biology-related jobs also begins here.

Engaging adult learners in these institutions in contemporary biological problem-solving through case and PBL approaches requires a significant effort to reach two year faculty members who have less opportunity for faculty development.

How will this barrier to adopting case and PBL pedagogies be addressed?

SOCIAL NETWORKING

“Youth today are extensively exploiting computing and mobile telephony outside of school to pursue their interest-driven learning through social networks. They use social network platforms like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blog sites, search engines, and instant messaging, not only for socializing, but to advance their learning and that of their peers about topics of personal consequence, such as hobbies, music, sports, games, fan culture, civic engagement, health, and nutrition” MacArthur Series on Digital Media and Learning, 2007).

However, “such interest-driven learning tends to be pursued outside school and often remains unconnected to formal education” (Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge. NSF, 2008, p. 35).

The ways people use social networking, internet searching and mobile computing is a serious issue for STEM education and one that might well be addressed by innovations in the approaches of case study and PBL.

WORKSPACE

Can we take advantage of existing technology to build online workspaces to support faculty development?

What would this look like?

WORKSPACE

Singapore National Institute of Education

http://bioquest.org/nie2011/

CASE STUDY AND PBL NETWORK

In August 2011, NSF awarded a collaborative project proposal focused on expanding the use of and knowledge about case studies and problem based learning (PBL) that have been shown to help undergraduates develop superior skills in question formulation and data analysis while they learn as much content as with traditional methods.

CASE STUDY AND PBL NETWORK

The Case Study and PBL Network plans to:• stimulate pedagogical innovation while furthering understanding of the

effectiveness of these methods• bring together the expertise and resources of several existing U.S. centers for case

studies and PBL in a unified effort to engage other biology faculty in using, developing or conducting research on these teaching approaches

• enhance the potential for these pedagogies to utilize emerging technologies, data analysis and quantitative reasoning in biology learning while addressing NRC recommendations for problem-based, interdisciplinary biology education

• encourage and support participation by members of traditionally underrepresented groups: minority faculty and minority serving institutions, community college faculty, graduate students and post docs

• invite institutional types from a wide range of geographic locations (including international members) to participate

• organize and disseminate resources, findings, and opportunities• encourage members to develop new projects and research proposals

The network will be a way to alert people to opportunities, to foster collaborations among network members, and to encourage its members to write proposals for new materials and research around using and learning with PBL and cases. It will be a meeting place for exchange of information and opportunities via an annual conferences and a robust online presence.

We would like to hear from potential users about a network on PBL and Case Study and what it might be able to do for faculty and the students in their classes, for curriculum and faculty development, and for research on effectiveness of these methods.

Individual Task

Please consider which of the meetings (shown on the next slide) that you would be likely to attend.

Be prepared to share your thoughts.

Potential National/International Conferences:

Focus Conference: Addressing Gaps in Case Study/PBL Support Partnering with the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, Buffalo, 2012

Assessing the Effectiveness of Case Studies and PBL Partnering with ASM-CUE, location pending, May 2013

Case Studies and PBL for Emerging Technologies and Cyberlearning Partnering with PAN-PBL meeting to be in Atlanta, 2014 Focus Meeting Research on Learning with Case Study and PBL, Research partner not yet identified, potentially AAAS or AERA, 2015

Small Group Task (Pairs/Triplets as necessary)

Please consider how cases can be used to address the following challenge. Be prepared to share your thoughts.

The 2008 NSF report “Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge” outlines changes in the digital world to which biology education must respond…

Cyberlearning is not just the term to describe online searching for information, gathering data, analyzing public data sets, database mining, or the use of virtual laboratories and simulations; cyberlearning also describes a mode of self-directed learning that is increasingly discordant with our broadcast style of teaching framed by disciplinary curricula that constrain opportunities for multi-disciplinary learning.

Large Group Task:

If you are sitting in the front row of tables, please turn your chairs around and join those in the second row. Repeat for all rows.

Consider the following list of items most frequently chosen by our initial group of 25 stakeholders at the May 15, 2010 Stakeholder’s meeting in Atlanta.

• Poll your own group on these items. (Would you be likely to access this resource?)

• Be prepared to share your groups top five choices with the larger group.