National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science 1

National Center for Case Study

Teaching in Science

Janelle Ruiz
http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu
Grade: 7-12
Subject: Science/ Math

Overview
This website provides case studies that can be used not only to teach scientific
concepts and content, but also process skills and critical thinking. The cases
allow your students to explore contemporary and real world science
problems. Through cases, you can transform your students. Some of the
benefits of case studies are as follows:
Student centered
Builds critical thinking skills
Builds problem solving skills
Makes science/math relevant
Increase student interest and motivation
Promotes investigation
What are the Key Features of the Website?
Hundreds of case studies
o Varying classification schemes
o Varying subjects (including science and math)
Lesson activities and readings that can be broken apart
o Aids in scaffolding
o Can use part or all of the lesson
Teaching notes
o Offers support and advice for a successful lesson
o Gives objectives and background information
o Includes classroom management suggestions
Password protected answer keys
o Students are unable to see the answers
Links to other case study resources
Content Literacy Strategy: Text Highlighting
This strategy is used to guide students toward student-generated talk and
questioning, rather than teacher-generated. This method can be used with any
type of text, however the focus is using it with scientific case studies and
articles. After a student reads the given text, they will individually highlight
information. This information can be things they liked, didnt like, were
confused by, had questions about, patterns found, or anything they find
interesting. Once the individual highlighting is completed, the teacher uses the
students information to build a class discussion.

Modifications:
If the teacher is seeking a more structured
discussion, they can also provide the
students with guiding questions they
need to look for in the reading. The
website come with an optional lesson
plan that contains guiding questions,
which would be a great option to
establish a more focused environment.
Additional Activities:
The teacher has many options to provide
additional activities. The chosen case
study could act as the main assignment. It
could also be dissected and used as a
supplemental resource in cooperation
with another assignment.
Thematic Units/ Topics:
Since this website provides case studies in
many different areas of science and math,
it could be used with almost any standard
and objective.