Incorporating Complex Open Authentic Case Studies into a Capstone Course

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The University of South Florida is exploring the use of authentic, open cases in STEM subjects in a capstone course for an undergraduate MIS program. In addition to developing and teaching the course itself, the project entails: 1) the creation of roughly 12 new case studies involving technological decision situations written at a level appropriate for undergraduates, 2) a faculty workshop on case method facilitation and case writing, 3) publication of a book specifically designed to support the workshop, available both in print form and electronically downloadable at no cost through a Creative Commons license, and 4) publication of the cases produced under the grant in a peer-reviewed outlet that offers free access to STEM educators. This project explores how effectively the case method, as delivered using complex, authentic cases, can be adapted to STEM situations. Triangulated techniques will be used to assess student learning. At the same time the categories of STEM problems most suited to the pedagogy will be identified. The project not only focuses on a subset of the IT-related student population that includes a large percentage of women (around 33%) but also includes an investigation of the hypothesis that matching the characteristics (e.g., gender, race, ethnic origin) of the main protagonist in a case to the characteristics of a particular student will increase the educational effectiveness of that case. That this effect exists is frequently assumed--but it has never been rigorously tested.