Case Studies
Case studies involve in-depth analysis of a situation or set of circumstances over time. It is used to get students involved in critical thinking, problem-solving, peer-to-peer collaboration, and justification of thoughts and ideas. It engages students because it emphasizes active learning and real world application.
Case studies can be used as an ongoing project, an intro to the class hook for the days' learning, as well as an assessment of concept mastery.
Present students with a situation or set of circumstances that poses a challenging problem. Form it as a case along with a series of questions to guide student in their analysis.
Example Questions:
- What is the central problem?
- What might have caused the problem?
- What evidence can be gathered to support or discount an of the hypotheses?
- What conclusions can be drawn?
- What recommendations?
- What course text/reading is the most central to solving the case?
- How do course readings support your recommendations?
Allow students time to study and research the case. Encourage pulling from relevant experiences and peer to peer collaboration. Once students have a response/recommendation, facilitate a whole class discussion of the case. Avoid telling students the right answers, but if the case if from the real world, consider telling students how it was resolved. Celebrate alternate solutions to the same problem.
Divide students into groups on Blackboard and ensure they have access to communicate via Zoom or Collaborate. Present the case study either through written text or video explanation. Students can work collaboratively through Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Jamboard to gather their thoughts and create a presentation of their response/recommendation. Use Blackboard discussion board, padlet, or flipgrid for turning in the final presentation. Conduct a whole group discussion emphasizing common thoughts or ideas as well as unique thoughts or ideas to solve the problem.
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