Testing the use of case study teaching in a non-majors introductory biology class

学科：生物科学(61)这个项目的学术价值是专门为密西西比大学大型非专业生物入门课程设计的案例研究，这些课程在课程的选定部分(约1600名学生/年)进行编写、实施和测试。对这类学生使用案例研究方法的有效性是通过使用课程的配对部分来比较学生的表现和满意度来确定的；其中一对采用讲授方法，另一对使用案例研究方法。评估的因素包括：1)实际知识水平；2)吸收和应用所学信息的能力；3)概念性理解；4)对课程的满意度；5)课堂出勤率。相同的测试题嵌入所有部分，无论是使用案例研究的部分还是使用讲座的部分。此外，研讨会正在为教师提供实施这种教学技术所需的培训，这对他们中的许多人来说都是新的。这项建议的更广泛影响包括：1)改进核心课程课程；2)形成供其他院校使用的非专业生物课的完整案例研究教学大纲；3)教学方法受到工作坊影响的教员人数(密歇根大学和邻近学术机构的教员)。

Discipline: Biological Sciences (61)The intellectual merits of this project are the case studies explicitly designed for use in large non-majors introductory biology courses bring written, implemented and tested in selected sections of a course (approximately 1600 students/year) at the University of Mississippi. The effectiveness of using a case study approach for this population of students is being determined by comparing student performance and satisfaction using paired sections of the course; one of the pair taught by the lecture method and the other using the case study approach. Factors being measured include student: 1) factual knowledge levels; 2) ability to assimilate and apply the learned information; 3) conceptual understanding; 4) satisfaction with the course; and 5) attendance in the class. Identical test questions are embedded in all sections, both those using case studies and those using lectures. In addition workshops are providing faculty the training needed to implement this pedagogical technique, new to many of them. The broader impacts of this proposal include: 1) improvement of a core curriculum course; 2) formation of an entire case study syllabus for non-majors' biology class made available to other institutions; and 3) the number of faculty whose teaching approach is being impacted by the workshops (faculty at UM and at neighboring academic institutions).