Liberal arts programs encompass a range of academic disciplines, and their effectiveness relies not only on what these disciplines are, but also on how they are integrated. The natural sciences are one important component of liberal arts programs that may be difficult to assimilate with the rest of the curriculum. In this paper, the topic of…

Within the context of higher education, the disciplines of science and filmmaking appear disparate, but the importance of storytelling as an integral part of science and research deserves closer examination. Humans have always used stories to share information and convey complex ideas. To those outside science, science communications can be laden…

In this case study, the subject for discussion is the need to use teaching notes in order to add personality to case studies. Personality, it is said, is more important than policy, than demographics, than finances, or amorous peccadillos. Personality is essential. It is the interaction of people that capture our interest, yet, the question is…

A growing number of Introductory Physics for Life Sciences courses have been developed to prepare biology, premedicine, and prehealth majors for cross-disciplinary connections between physical principles and biological systems. Many students find it challenging to apply idealized algebra-based general physics to more complex biological systems. 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 month's issue discusses using case studies to test for knowledge or lessons learned.

The case study method of teaching uses real-world narratives to teach concepts and content. This method of teaching encourages active learning, which has been shown to have a positive effect on student performance in many disciplines including science. Although more females than males pursue a postsecondary degree, more males than females pursue…

Three years ago, the "National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science" (NCCSTS) was inspired to merge the case study and flipped classroom approaches. The resulting project aimed to create the materials required to teach a flipped course in introductory biology by assigning videos as homework and case studies in the classroom. Three…

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 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 describes incorporating a journal article into the classroom by first converting it into a case study.

In this article, the author introduces the usage of case studies to be an excellent method for engaging students through stories. The author notes she developed a series of mini-case studies that can be implemented, with a little advance preparation, within a 10- to 15-minute window during lecture. What makes them "mini" case studies?…

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. If a mere picture is worth a thousand words, how much more are "moving pictures" or videos worth? The author poses this not merely as a rhetorical question, but because she wishes to make a case for using videos in the traditional case study method. She recommends four main approaches of…

Learning in higher education today is measured overwhelmingly on the basis of "correctness," that is, whether students sufficiently approached the preset "expert" answer to a test question. We posit that although conceptual correctness is at the core of good learning, there is much information instructors miss out on by relying…

Cellular respiration, the central component of cellular metabolism, can be a difficult concept for many students to fully understand. In this interrupted, problem-based case study, students explore the purpose of cellular respiration as they play the role of medical examiner, analyzing autopsy evidence to determine the mysterious cause of death…

Education research provides a range of curricular reform options that can lead to improved student course outcomes. These options can appear easy to implement with the hope of immediate increases in student learning. In 2006 the Ithaca College Physics Department went down this path by moving all of their 100-level courses out of lecture halls and…

Three college faculty taught large general biology classes using case studies and personal response systems (clickers). Each instructor taught the same eight cases in two different sections, except the questions within the cases differed. In one section the questions were lower order (LO) factual inquiries, and in the other they were largely…