Case-Based Teaching and Data Analysis

Case-Based Teaching and Learning Gains

1. Case based teaching that emphasizes problem solving and discussion improve student performance significantly on exams throughout the semester. It also enhances students' abilities to correctly answer application and analysis type questions.
2. While case based teaching improves student exam performance overall, lecture-based teaching results in more top performing students (90% or higher exam score) than case-based teaching. I wonder the "top" students that we traditionally think of are so well trained in learning under the didactic teaching method, that when they are exposed to other learning styles, they just become lost!
   

Data Analysis on Changes in Course Delivery

Here are the different data analysis that can be done to determine the effects of changes made in a course:

1. Use prerequisite course final exam scores or entrance exam scores to determine variation of student academic ability when comparing students from different terms.
   
2. Compare first test score with the final test score in a course to see how students improve in their different levels of learning (which can either follow Bloom's categories, or simply two levels: knowledge-comprehension / application-analysis).
3. Compare total exam points earned by students under different grade band (90% or higher, 80% - 90%, 70% - 80%, etc.)
4. Bloom course material / homework / etc. and correlate with test scores in 2.

Reference:

Chaplin, Susan. (September / October 2009). Assessment of the Impact of Case Studies on Student Learning Gains in an Introductory Biology Course. Journal of College Science Teaching. pp 72 - 79.

Case Studies Resources:

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science:
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/case.html

The case page (with cases for many different science areas):
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ubcase.htm