There are multiple ways to put science into a case. This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month's issue discusses different ways of presenting science in case studies.

Improving students' understanding of how science works requires explicit instruction. Here, we test the efficacy of a module based on two previously published activities (the "Cube Puzzle" and the case study "Asteroids and Dinosaurs") that teach how science works to college science majors. Students also use the How Science…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. The author shares the strategies and tools that teachers can use to manage a case study classroom effectively.

The Game Changer is an interrupted case study that traces the football career of Anthony "Tony Tonka Truck" Williams and the types of brain trauma that he suffers from playing football, from junior league level through high school, college, and his draft into the pros. To be successful during this case, readers will have to be familiar…

In experimenting with ways of structuring the assignment and providing guidance to students, the author developed a series of tools that may be of interest to instructors wishing to implement a case-writing assignment in their course. This assignment is more suited for instructors experienced in case writing, as their knowledge of how to design a…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This hybrid case has three overarching and interrelated goals. First, it can be used to familiarize students with a range of ecological concepts and terms. Second, it is intended to engage students in…

This article describes an interrupted case study that intersperses information about diffusion and osmosis with content review and knowledge application questions, as well as a simple experiment that can be conducted without the use of a laboratory. The case study was developed for use in an introductory undergraduate biology course. The case…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. In this month's issue the goal of the case study is for students to expand their understanding of membrane permeability and the proton motive force in mitochondria through the study of…

If a picture is worth a thousand words, think about how long it takes your students to read a thousand words. Case studies are effective and stimulating ways to teach a variety of subjects, including the biological sciences. In learning the details of a particular case, students develop skills in both deductive and inductive reasoning, hypothesis…

Case studies are an effective way to help students understand how science works, and perhaps even more importantly, how science knowledge is constructed. Yet often when we teach the content of science, we overlook the nature of science (NOS), and in particular, how knowledge claims of science are justified (Abd-El-Khalick, Bell, and Lederman 1998;…

This case is based on an article that considered the problems that would arise if a person were to cross over into a mirror-image environment (Yee 2002). Some of the stereochemistry problems posed in that article are woven into this case study. (Contains 8 figures.)

The case study technique allows students to understand the social impact of science-related decisions; it lets them experience historic events as recorded when they occurred. Presented are tips for developing case studies as well as two examples suitable for use in college science classrooms. (JN)

Provides insights on the use of case studies as a method of instruction. The article partitions into the following sections: (1) Case studies as a teaching technique; (2) How to write a case; (3) How to teach a case; and (4) Pluses and minuses of the case method. (ZWH)

Describes a case study of the Tuskegee Syphilis project to help demonstrate the use of the case study method in instruction. This is one of a series of articles written to stimulate interest in and discussion about the use of the case study method in teaching undergraduate-level science. (ZWH)

The general chemistry course at Harvey Mudd College presents chemical principles and addresses technology's impact on society. Students consider environmental and economic implications of chemical scenarios in real-world case studies created for team-based analysis and discussion. Case study design, implementation, and assessment are presented.…