Conclusions

1. Student-designed case studies: challenges and pleasant surprises Dr. Ellen M. Wisner New Jersey Institute of Technology Conclusions Abstract In my honor’s biology course I introduced my students to case studies throughout the semester and challenged them to design their own. The students worked in groups to develop, write, and then teach their case studies. To facilitate the development of the cases, I divided the assignment into six parts: choosing a topic, creating an annotated bibliography, developing an initial plan, writing a rough draft, producing a final version, and teaching the case study. Each group faced different challenges. Some lacked in initial creativity in choosing a topic, others struggled to convert information from scientific research to a case study format, while still others had issues determining whether sources were credible. However, other groups excelled in these areas. I was particularly surprised by the imagination that a few groups showed. I plan to continue this project, as feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive. From my experience, I plan to make three significant adjustments. First, I will make the project goals clear from the beginning of the semester, and give students extra incentive by explaining that if their cases are good they may be submitted for publication. Second, I will add peer-review to the process in order to help the students incite creativity in each other. Third, I will have the students teach their cases to first-semester biology recitation sections. This way each group will have time to present their full case and this will hopefully excite students in the first year class about the prospect of developing a case study the following semester. Students Anmol Mittal, Katarina Jevtic and Kenneth Ly before their final case study presentation. Student Feedback “It was insightful, and it was fun going full circle because in the beginning we had no idea how to do a case study and in the end we did come up with a finished product. So it was great” “Writing a case allowed us to use our skills that we acquired in doing research as well as working as a group and involved a significant amount of work. I like the case study idea. After all, it is nice to be able to write one for the class to read after reading so many throughout the year.” “Yes, the case study was helpful in that it allowed us to zoom in and focus on a specific topic of our choice.” Pleasant surprises I was most impressed by the creativity that some of the groups showed. This was especially true with some of the dialogue that several groups created. Below is an example of dialogue from one group’s case on coloration in guppies. Part 2 - What Causes Their Color? Tommy’s mom replied, “What an intriguing question! Perhaps one of the sales associates may have an answer.” His mom found a sales associate standing by the birds section, but he directed the two of them over to the pet store owner, who used to work as an ecologist. “Excuse me, sir,” Tommy’s mom began. “My son and I were just looking at the guppies, and we couldn’t believe how beautiful the guppies’ bright orange color was! Do you think you could tell us more about why they’re so bright?” The pet store owner smiled. “That’s a good question! I was actually just reading an article about this on National Geographic the other day. How about I explain how the male guppies are orange first?” The owner walked over to the guppies aisle and picked up a container with a male guppy. “Male guppies become orange-spotted when they are exposed to testosterone, and do not develop orange spots when testosterone isn’t present.” He then picked up a container with a female guppy, which was not as brightly colored as the male guppy. “On the other hand, females don’t become orange even with testosterone,” (Jayasooriya et al. 2002). “Wow, he just said so many big words I don’t understand!” thought Tommy. Oblivious, the owner continued, “Testosterone regulates the synthesis of pigments like carotenoid and red pteridine, which cause the orange spots. So this might explain the appearance of orange spots in the guppies,” (Jayasooriya et al. 2002). Questions: 3. In natural environments, why might some guppies be exposed to more levels of testosterone than other guppies? 4. Why does testosterone affect the males, but not the females? 5. What might a more orange color signal to a female? The Assignment In order to help guide the students in development of their case studies, the project was divided into 6 steps outlined below. • Choose a topic • Each group submitted three potential topics which were then discussed during individual group meetings • Suggested places to get topic ideas included Science Daily and other science news sources 2. Collect research • Each group collected a minimum of 4 peer reviewed papers on their topic • Groups developed annotated bibliographies for these sources Summary Overall, this project was extremely successful. It was well-liked by students, the final products were of high quality, students gained a deeper understanding of their chosen topic, and students were proud of their final products. The biggest drawback in implementing this project was the time it took to help the students design their cases. Students are not use to this type of writing assignment and need lots of guidance. I had students work in groups, which alleviated some of the time commitment, as I had fewer cases to review, and also some groups worked well together and answered their fellow group members questions about the process. I plan to continue to include this project in my class with the modifications mentioned. Hopefully in the future, I will be able to also publish a few of these cases with my students, so that others will have access to them. • 3. Initial plan • Each group described learning goals for their case and a plan for the organization of their case • Plan was reviewed by instructor and extensive feedback was given to students 4. Rough draft • Each groupturned in an ungraded rough draft that included teaching notes for their case • Most groups turned in a near-complete draft 6. Presentation • Each grouphad 20 minutes to explain the rationale and goals of their case and then go through one or two parts of their case with the class. • Final version • Final versions included the written case study, teaching notes, and an answer key Acknowledgements I am thankful to New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Science Case Network, Clyde Herreid, my mentor through the SCN New Case Fellow Program, and my Honors Foundations of Ecology and Evolution students who worked hard on producing many excellent cases. Extra Credit Challenge: Students could earn bonus points if they included a supplement to their case study that modified it to be teachable to a large lecture course.