REGISTRATION & COFFEE
Welcoming Remarks
Nancy A. Schiller, Co-Director, and
Clyde (Kipp) Herreid, Director, National Center for
Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buffalo
PLENARY SESSION
Moving Beyond Assessment to Research
Diane Ebert-May, Professor of Plant Biology,
Michigan State University
As the call to reform undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education accelerates nationally, we use "scientific teaching" to describe active learning strategies and teaching methods that have been systematically tested and shown to reach diverse students. Emphasis on assessment assists us in determining not only if our students understand key principles, demonstrate basic scientific skills, interconnect ideas, and exercise critical thought, but also why students can do so or not. Intensive faculty development activities to achieve improvement in undergraduate science education have occurred in universities and colleges for nearly two decades. Our laboratory group is engaged in research driven by two questions: (1) How has faculty teaching changed in response to professional development? and (2) Do levels of student learning and academic achievement also change significantly in response to the changes in instruction? We use design research methodologies and structural equation modeling to identify and analyze the variables that correlate with faculty and student change. In this plenary, we will examine the dimensions of pedagogical change that enable students to advance from rote learning toward higher-level thinking.
COFFEE BREAK
MORNING CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Track A: What Is a Case? / Different Types of Cases
Kipp Herreid, Director, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buffalo
Business and law schools have a long tradition of using real or simulated stories, or cases, to teach students about their fields. Other disciplines such as medicine, psychology, and teacher education also have found the method effective in capturing the imagination and attention of their students. The formal use of case studies in the science classroom however is still relatively novel. Yet cases have great pedagogical potential, not only for teaching scientific methodology, ethics, and the relationship of scientists to society to non-majors, but also for delivering content-rich courses for science majors. In this session, we will cover the elements of a case study, the different forms that cases can take, and the many different ways of teaching them.
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Track B: Case Studies in Distance Learning Environments
James Hewlett, Associate Professor of Biology, Finger Lakes Community College
The number and diversity of online courses in higher education has increased dramatically over the last several years and is outpacing enrollment growth in traditional classroom courses. According to the Sloan Consortium, over 20 percent of all U.S. higher education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of 2007. With this dramatic growth comes the need for an understanding of how traditional classroom pedagogies can be employed as effective tools in online education. Utilizing an example of a case-based Human Anatomy and Physiology course at Finger Lakes Community College, participants will explore a variety of strategies for integrating case studies into a distance education course.
LUNCH
EARLY AFTERNOON CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Track A: The Discussion Case Method
Kipp Herreid, Director, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buffalo
Discussion cases are typically written as dilemmas that give the history of an individual, institution, or business faced with a problem that must be solved. The teacher's goal is to help students sift through the facts, analyze the problem, and consider possible solutions and consequences. On the surface of it, the method is simple: the instructor asks probing questions and the students analyze the problem presented in the story with probity and brilliance. Most science teachers however have little experience running this type of a class. In this session, you will have the opportunity to participate in a discussion case and then analyze the process.
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Track B: Bringing Scientific Research to Life: A Case-Based Model for Integrating Project-Based Learning into
Introductory Science Courses
James Hewlett, Associate Professor of Biology, Finger Lakes Community College
The National Science Foundation and National Research Council have produced numerous reports and recommendations on how to reform science education at our nation's colleges and universities. In almost every case, the recommendations focus on the idea that to learn science, you must do science. As an example, BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists contains a recommendation that an undergraduate research experience should be integrated as early as possible in the education pathway, a concept that has tremendous impact on how introductory courses should be taught. At the same time, the gap between teaching/education and scientific research continues to widen. What is needed is a pedagogy that can bridge this gap and can begin to integrate research into the instructor "tool box." In this session, participants will explore how the case study method is being employed as part of a larger model to integrate project-based learning into the first two years of a college science curriculum.
COFFEE BREAK
LATE AFTERNOON CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Track A: The Interrupted Case Method
Kipp Herreid, Director, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buffalo
In the interrupted case method, students are given a problem (case) to work on in small groups. After the groups are given a short time to discuss the information, the instructor gives them additional information to analyze, apply, and discuss. This sequence is repeated several times as the problem gets closer to resolution. One of the great virtues of the method is the way in which it mimics how real scientists go about their work. Scientists do not have all of the facts all at once; they get them piecemeal. This method of “progressive disclosure” is characteristic of problem-based learning (PBL), but in the interrupted case method, the case is accomplished in a single class period rather than over several days. It shares with PBL the great virtue of engaging all students in problem solving. In this session, you will participate in an interrupted case and analyze the experience.
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Track B: Teaching for Understanding in Science: Active Learning and Assessment
Diane Ebert-May, Professor of Plant Biology, Michigan State University
This session is based on current research about undergraduate science curriculum reform, how students learn, and how assessment improves student learning. We will use your course materials (so bring sample assessments) and examine hows and whys to (1) move from a teacher-centered to learner-centered classroom, (2) actively engage students in learning in all types of classroom and laboratory environments, (3) develop multiple kinds of assessments based on goals that provide substantive data about student learning, and (4) analyze and use assessment data to improve instruction.
POSTER SESSION / COCKTAIL HOUR
The deadline for submitting a proposal for a poster is September 11, 2009. Click
here to submit a poster proposal.
BANQUET
REGISTRATION & COFFEE
EARLY MORNING CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Track A: Laboratory-Based Case Studies
Frank Dinan, Professor of Chemistry, Canisius College
Case studies can place laboratory experiments in a setting that makes them more engaging for students. Removing experiments from their conventional context and weaving them into a story that involves people and/or situations that students can identify with, can make laboratory work not only more interesting, but also more insightful and challenging. Minimizing detailed experimental directions requires enhanced student creativity, and requiring reports that are written in a narrative prose style enhances student-writing skills. Specific examples of case-based labs will be given in this session.
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Track B - High School Teacher Session 1: Using Problems and Cases to Motivate Students to
Take Responsibility for Their Learning
Richard Donham, Senior Policy Associate, Mathematics & Science
Education Resource Center, University of Delaware
Problem-based Learning (PBL) and Case-based Learning (CBL) share many goals: both motivate students to build their own disciplinary understandings, both give students experience in collaborative teams, and both require students to take greater responsibility for their own learning. Both also can be easily used in any scientific subdiscipline to address the most fundamental of the science standards: the nature of science. But, PBL and CBL both also require the teacher to fundamentally re-think his or her role in the classroom. In doing so, they move along a trajectory from that of transmitter of knowledge to that of a learning guide; i.e., toward planning the learning context and evaluating students' thinking. Participants will assume the role of a student and work through an abbreviated PBL problem. Examples of problems and cases will be shown that illustrate ow both pedagogies may encourage teacher creativity and renew enthusiasm for the discipline.
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Track C - Clicker Case Session 1: Using Cases in Large Classrooms: The Joy of Clickers
Kipp Herreid, Director, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science,
University at Buffalo (this session is open to the first 50 people who register for it)
It is hard to run a discussion in a classroom with hundreds of students. Yet, discussion is a large part of the reason that case studies work: students have a chance to be interactive rather than passive. Until the advent of personal response systems, or "clickers," case study teaching has been precluded from large classes. That has all changed. Now, clicker cases are being used and developed with great success even in classes of 450 students and, with their use, attendance soars. In this workshop, we will show examples of clicker cases and illustrate the kinds of questions that can be created to provoke critical thinking skills as well as promote retention of facts. Participants will use Turning Point clickers and experience first hand the joy of clickers and cases. We will also share some of the recent results from our NSF clicker grant collaborating with a dozen faculty at different universities comparing the effectiveness of clicker cases with the lecture method.
COFFEE BREAK
LATE MORNING CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Track A: How to Write a Case
Kipp Herreid, Director, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buffalo
Finding a topic for a case isn’t difficult. Cases can be used to teach almost any topic, from mitosis to nuclear fission. The challenge is how to craft a case study so that it achieves your teaching objectives while providing students with a compelling story that is relevant and thought provoking. In this session, we will provide you with a recipe for writing successful cases. Join us and leave the workshop with a rough draft of a case for one of your courses.
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Track B - High School Teacher Session 2: Two Case Study Types for High School:
The Interrupted Case and Simulations
James Serach, Aldo Leopold Chair for Distinguished Teaching of
Environmental Science and Ethics, The Lawrenceville School
Important goals of high school science ought to include an understanding of the nature of scientific evidence and the ability to understand and work through messy, complex issues. Two kinds of cases serve these goals very well. The interrupted case study method can be applied to help high school students become more scientifically literate by exposing them to and making more accessible the primary scientific literature. Simulations, such as mock trials and congressional hearings, require students to explore a particular role in depth, understand counterarguments to their positions, and listen and respond to classmates. In this session, you will work through an interrupted case and how to use and manage a role-play simulation. We will discuss the components necessary to make these exercises engaging, entertaining, and pedagogically effective.
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Track C - Clicker Case Session 2: How to Write a Clicker Case Teachers Want to Teach and Students Enjoy
Eric Ribbens, Associate Professor,
Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University
Your creative juices are flowing. These clickers are really cool, and the idea of teaching cases to a big class is fascinating (and maybe a bit overwhelming). You want to write a clicker case, a case that will grip a large class, a case that will challenge, fascinate, and above all teach. But how? What makes a good clicker case work and helpful teaching notes helpful? We'll dissect several clicker cases, probing them to find what works and what fails. We'll also look at how to write useful teaching notes, which are critical to a good case even though your students never see them. Ideas will be bursting from you by the time we finish this session, and you will be ready to write a case that uses clickers!
LUNCH
EARLY AFTERNOON CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Track A: Committed to Cases: Integrating the Case Concept into Your Course
Eric Ribbens, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University
You like case studies. You’ve taught some in your courses. You’ve seen your students respond, and you believe cases are a good teaching method. But how do you really integrate cases into your class? What are the challenges? Benefits? Risks? We’ll take an introductory biology syllabus and explore strategies to embed cases deeply into the course. We’ll also share our experiences and discuss strategies to successfully transition to a class that is case-intensive.
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Track B - High School Teacher Session 3: The Teacher as Researcher: Using Assessment to
Understand Students Better with Problems and Cases
Richard Donham, Senior Policy Associate, Mathematics &
Science Education Resource Center, University of Delaware
Problems and cases require that the teacher transform his or her thinking about assessment and its role in the classroom. Both of these inquiry-based pedagogies embed process as well as content objectives and both kinds of objectives should be assessed. The teacher may use low-stakes formative assessments to not only inform their instruction about student prior knowledge, but also engage students in a general topic, encourage metacognition, and build confidence. Team function may be enhanced through the use of concept mapping, which can be used to assess group performance and to push students toward the higher levels of understanding (in the terms of Bloom's revised taxonomy). Writing assessments can be used toward building strong writing and communication skills in the context of big ideas in science. In the role of a student, participants will be provided examples and use rubrics to evaluate their performance.
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Track C - Clicker Case Session 3: Overcoming the Peculiar Teaching Challenges of Clicker Cases
Peggy Brickman, Associate Professor of Plant Biology, University of Georgia
Thanks to the advent of remote response devices (clickers), the real life science applications of cases can now be experienced in even the largest enrollment courses. Of course, the same classroom management and case writing challenges found in traditional case teaching can also be exhibited in clicker cases, but there are also novel challenges: how to encourage discussion of multiple choice questions, ensure academic honesty, prepare for technological failure, not to mention the ultimate challenge: how to write multiple-choice questions that assess more than just content. In this workshop, I will introduce methods that I have found helpful in developing and implementing clicker cases. Participants will get the opportunity to work together in small groups to write and critique clicker questions and cases.
LATE AFTERNOON SESSION
Writing More Effective Proposals
for NSF's Course, Curriculum & Laboratory Improvement Program
Deborah Allen, Program Director, Division of Undergraduate Education,
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation's Course, Curriculum & Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Program seeks to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students. It especially welcomes proposals that have the potential to transform undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This workshop is designed to foster an understanding of the features of the new CCLI program solicitation in order to assist interested participants in developing their ideas for projects and proposal preparation. Following an overview of the major elements of the program, including the new project types, a "proposal starter" will be used to launch discussion of strategies for developing a good idea into a project and a proposal. A sample funded proposal for a case studies-related project will provide more specific examples of ways to transform a good idea from this conference into an effective proposal. The session will conclude with a brief look at additional funding opportunities offered by the NSF in support of STEM education.