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NCCSTS Case Collection • Teaching Resources
The publications listed below have been produced by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science.
Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science , edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid, originally published in 2006 by NSTA Press; reprinted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) in 2013. Collection of 40+ essays examining every aspect of the case study method and its use in the science classroom. The book is available for purchase through NSTA .
Science Stories You Can Count On: 51 Case Studies with Quantitative Reasoning in Biology , edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid, Nancy A. Schiller, and Ky F. Herreid, NSTA Press, 2014. Includes case studies as well as tips and techniques for promoting quantitative reasoning in biology. The book is available for purchase through NSTA or from Amazon .
Science Stories: Using Case Studies to Teach Critical Thinking , edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid, Nancy A. Schiller, and Ky F. Herreid, NSTA Press, 2012. A compilation of case studies with questions and teaching notes that can be used to help develop STEM students’ critical thinking skills. The book is available for purchase through NSTA or from Amazon .
The NCCSTS has produced two training videos with supporting brochures on the case method and its use in science education.
Use of Case Studies and Group Discussion in Science Education This hands-on video shows the classical method of running a case study class used by Harvard law and business school professors for almost 100 years—the art of using successful group discussion. In 26 minutes you will learn how to ensure that your large group discussion is not a free-for-all or an exercise in futility as you try to get students to say something intelligent. Preparation and control are the key ingredients. For preparation students must read a case study ahead of time. But it is more than that. In this video, which focuses on a case study involving genetically modified food, you will see how an actual class is given a “warm-up” by breaking into small groups to discuss the reading they’ve done ahead of time. Then you will see how a large group discussion is successfully controlled. It’s the important, yet subtle, use of appropriate questions, body language, blackboard planning, and summarization that makes it all work. Video on YouTube | Access the video booklet (PDF)
Team Learning: Cooperative Learning in the Science Classroom Having students work in small groups is arguably the best way to teach science and this includes teaching science using cases. But how can we run a classroom this way? Here is one answer using a method called Team Learning. This 26-minute video shows you how to establish groups, how to set up a grading system that encourages group participation, how to answer students’ questions and, most importantly, why this is a superior method of teaching. Video on YouTube | Access the video booklet (PDF)
Bibliographies
- Bibliography on Case Study Teaching in Science compiled by Nancy A. Schiller and Clyde Freeman Herreid.
Selected Articles by Clyde F. Herreid and other members of the NCCSTS
Getting started.
- Case Studies in Science: A Novel Method of Science Education
- What is a Case? Bringing to Science Education the Established Teaching Tool of Law and Medicine
- My Favorite Case and What Makes It So
- What Makes a Good Case? Some Basic Rules of Good Storytelling Help Teachers Generate Student Excitement in the Classroom
- Sorting Potatoes for Miss Bonner: Bringing Order to Case Study Methodology Through a Classification Scheme
- Can Case Studies Be Used to Teach Critical Thinking?
- A Peek Behind the Curtain of Tenure and Promotion
Writing Cases
- Cooking With Betty Crocker: A Recipe for Case Writing
- The Way of Flesch: The Art of Writing Readable Cases
- Twixt Fact and Fiction: A Case Writer’s Dilemma
- Let’s Get Personal: Putting Personality into your Cases
- Puttin’ on the Ritz: How to Put Science into Cases
- Putting Words in Their Mouth: Writing Dialogue for Case Studies
- And All That Jazz: An Essay Extolling the Virtues of Writing Case Teaching Notes
- Exercises in Style: Is There a Best Way to Write a Case Study?
- The Chef Returns: A Recipe for Writing Great Case Studies
- Creating a Video Case Study
Teaching with Cases
- Don't! What Not to Do When Teaching Cases
- Return to Mars: How Not to Teach a Case Study
- Assembling a Case Study Tool Kit: 10 Tools for Teaching With Cases
- The Interrupted Case Method
- Case Studies and the Flipped Classroom
- A Chat with the Survey Monkey: Case Studies and the Flipped Classroom
- Intimate Debate Technique
- "Clicker" Cases: Introducing Case Study Teaching into Large Classrooms
- Structured Controversy: A Case Study Strategy
- Trigger Cases Versus Capstone Cases
- The Boy Scouts Said Its Best: Some Advice on Case Study Teaching and Student Prepara-tion
- Naming Names
- Science, Pseudoscience, and Nonsense
Cases and Cooperative Learning
- The Bee and the Groundhog: Lessons in Cooperative Learning
- I Never Knew Joe Paterno: An Essay on Teamwork and Love
- The Wisdom of Groups
Grading Case Work
- When Justice Peeks: Evaluating Students in Case Study Teaching
Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science
Edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid
Originally published in 2006 by NSTA Press; reprinted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) in 2013. Collection of 40+ essays examining every aspect of the case study method and its use in the science classroom. The book is available for purchase through NSTA .
Science Stories You Can Count On: 51 Case Studies with Quantitative Reasoning in Biology
Edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid, Nancy A. Schiller, and Ky F. Herreid, NSTA Press, 2014.
Includes case studies as well as tips and techniques for promoting quantitative reasoning in biology. The book is available for purchase through NSTA or from Amazon .
Science Stories: Using Case Studies to Teach Critical Thinking
Edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid, Nancy A. Schiller, and Ky F. Herreid, NSTA Press, 2012.
A compilation of case studies with questions and teaching notes that can be used to help develop STEM students’ critical thinking skills. The book is available for purchase through NSTA or from Amazon .
Use of Case Studies and Group Discussion in Science Education
This hands-on video shows the classical method of running a case study class used by Harvard law and business school professors for almost 100 years—the art of using successful group discussion. In 26 minutes you will learn how to ensure that your large group discussion is not a free-for-all or an exercise in futility as you try to get students to say something intelligent. Preparation and control are the key ingredients. For preparation students must read a case study ahead of time. But it is more than that. In this video, which focuses on a case study involving genetically modified food, you will see how an actual class is given a “warm-up” by breaking into small groups to discuss the reading they’ve done ahead of time. Then you will see how a large group discussion is successfully controlled. It’s the important, yet subtle, use of appropriate questions, body language, blackboard planning, and summarization that makes it all work.
Video on YouTube | Access the video booklet (PDF)
Team Learning: Cooperative Learning in the Science Classroom
Having students work in small groups is arguably the best way to teach science and this includes teaching science using cases. But how can we run a classroom this way? Here is one answer using a method called Team Learning. This 26-minute video shows you how to establish groups, how to set up a grading system that encourages group participation, how to answer students’ questions and, most importantly, why this is a superior method of teaching.
The articles listed below are selected by Clyde F. Herreid and other members of the NCCSTS.
2023 NSTA Case Studies: Different types for different needs Resources Website
Facilitator: Annie Prud'homme-Généreux University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada [email protected]
The slides used in this session are available as a PDF file .
Case Collection at NSTA
The National Center for Case Study Teaching (the "Buffalo Case Collection) is now available as the NSTA Case Collection . Cases are available free of charge. Teaching Notes and Answer Keys require a $30 subscription.
Articles on Types of Cases
Many articles on each of the different types of cases described in this workshop are available on the Resources page of the NSTA Case Collection.
Type of Cases Table
Here is a copy of the table classifying the types of cases by their learning objective and class format.
HHMI BioInteractive Video Cases
HHMI BioInteractive has 17 video case studies with pre-built pause points and questions to help students practice scientific thinking. All materials are available free of charge. Videos must be streamed online; the video cases cannot be downloaded and played off-line.
HHMI BioInteractive Video Builder
HHMI BioInteractive also allows users to create their own video case studies using any of the videos available on their website. The free tool is called Interactive Video Builder . Access to the tool also gains access to the videos created by other educators.
H5P Interactive Videos
H5P is a type of HTML tool that allows users to create interactive content, including interactive videos. Many LMS, such as Moodle, contain H5P editors that give users the ability to create this materials easily. The free software Lumi also allows users to create the H5P materials outside of an LMS and upload it to their LMS. This link explains how to create a video case in H5P .
Ed Puzzle is a company that has created a cloud-based tool that allows educators to easily create video case studies using any video of their choosing and monitor student completion of the videos. The tool is available for a fee, but free accounts with limited access to services are available.
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The NCCSTS Case Collection, created and curated by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, on behalf of the University at Buffalo, contains over a thousand peer-reviewed case studies on a variety of topics in all areas of science. Cases (only) are freely accessible; subscription is required for access to teaching notes and ...
Edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid. Originally published in 2006 by NSTA Press; reprinted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) in 2013. Collection of 40+ essays examining every aspect of the case study method and its use in the science classroom. The book is available for purchase through NSTA.
Guest Editorial: The NGSS Case Studies: All Standards, All Students: Journal Article: Methods and Strategies: On the Case: Journal Article: The Case of Polar Bears: Journal Article: The Case of the Disappearing Snack: Journal Article: The Fish Kill Mystery: Using Case Studies in the Middle School Classroom: Journal Article
Journal Article. Case Study: A Case of Respiratory Distress. Journal Article. Case Study: Cooking Under Pressure—Applying the Ideal Gas Law in the Kitchen. Journal Article. Case Study: Stereochemistry of Drug Action: Case Studies With Enantiomers. Journal Article. Case Study: The Chemistry of Cocaine. Journal Article.
Resources in "Case Study" Collection. Copy. Title Resource Type; As Light Meets Matter
The National Center for Case Study Teaching (the "Buffalo Case Collection) is now available as the NSTA Case Collection. Cases are available free of charge. Cases are available free of charge. Teaching Notes and Answer Keys require a $30 subscription.
Resources in "Teaching with Case Studies" Collection. Copy. Title Resource Type; Case Study Teaching in Science Buffalo
There are three sections associated with this case study, with an optional fourth section, all of which relate to water quality and the St. Croix River: Section One - History and regulatory authority of the St. Croix River . Section Two - Water quality issues . Section Three - Environmental decision making . Section Four - Biomonitoring (optional)
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 ...
Not An Old Person's Disease. Part I—"Soaking Up the Sun". by. Jennifer Miskowski and Anne Galbraith*. Department of Biology University of Wisconsin—La Crosse. Judy sat up, took a swig from her water bottle, and wiped the sweat off of her face. She glanced at her watch and frowned.
In this case study, you will examine plant diversity in four hypothetical wetlands in Ontario. Swamps and marshes can be found in the southern portion of the province with peatlands dominating the northern region. Some of the threats to Ontario wetlands include habitat fragmentation and invasive species. These threats to biodiversity are the ...
Figure 4. Incidence of COVID-19 cases in New York and California from March 15 through October 15, 2020 (Washington Post staf, 2020). 2. Insert case counts from Figure 4 into Table 2 below and correlate these numbers with the COVID pandemic response plan provided by California Governor Gavin Newsom in Figure 3.
Case study teaching method improves student performance and perceptions of learning gains. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 16(1), 21-28. Chess, B. (2015). Laboratory applications in microbiology: A case study approach (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education. Cody, C. (2001). Medical microbiology laboratory case studies.
Case studies have a long history in business, law, and medical education. Their use in science education, however, is relatively recent. In our years of working with the method, we have found it to be a powerful pedagogical technique for teaching science.
Case Study. Giselle McCallum, Annie Prud'homme-Généreux 2016-02-19 06:28:28. The idea for this case study came about after a student described her experience at a spa with an ionic foot bath. The student was skeptical about the explanation provided to her about the underlying mechanism of the foot bath and wished to know more about it.
Case Study. Clyde Freeman Herreid 2016-04-16 02:01:55. Science, Pseudoscience, and Nonsense. If we teach only the findings and products of science—no matter how useful and even inspiring they may be—without communicating its critical method, how can the average person possibly distinguish science from pseudoscience?
nsta filling gaps a case study in building advocacy capacity in ... nccsts case studies nsta Sep 19 2022 the nccsts case collection created and curated by the national center for case study teaching in science on behalf of the university at buffalo contains over a thousand peer reviewed case studies on