JoinAll Case Studies
The cases alone are freely accessible. A subscription is required for access to teaching notes and answer keys.
In keyword search, list the criteria you would like to find cases. Multiple criteria can be listed separated by commas (i.e. directed, high school)
Educational levels are defined as follows: Elementary, Middle, High School, College
Types of cases are defined as follows: Analysis/Issues, Clicker, Debate, Intimate Debate, Demonstration, Dilemma/Decision, Directed, Discussion, Interrupted, Jig-saw, Journal Article, Laboratory, Student Presentations, Mini-case, Problem-Based Learning, Public Hearing, Role-Play, Trial, Flipped, Game
By Thanos Myloneros, Ilaria Montagni, Janet A. De Souza-Hart
This case study uses a story involving time travel to help students integrate basic concepts in immunology, sociology, psychology, bioethics, and cultural competency, which are essential for improving public health related to vaccine-preventable infe...
The Stakeholders of Gorongosa National Park
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema, Sara D. Miller, Claudia E. Vergara
Working through this case study, students explore the intersection between scientific and information literacies and consider how authority (scientific or otherwise) is represented in information sources through examining stakeholders and how their v...
If You Could See Through My Eyes
By Andrew M. Petzold
This directed case study explores the topic of color vision and its variations as experienced in humans. The case begins with a review of visual transduction from photons to recognition within the nervous system. The focus then shifts to an examinati...
What Causes the “Guilty Look” in Dogs?
By Jennifer J. Templeton
This interrupted case study explores the factors that might cause the “guilty look” in dogs, including the dog’s performance of a misdeed and the owner’s response. The case engages students in the scientific method, from making observations a...
By Jody L. Vogelzang, Elizabeth L. MacQuillan, Janna E. Pacey, Geraldine J. Terry, Jeffery A. Trytko, Marie E. VanderKooi
This case study introduces “Rose” and “Michael,” a couple with infertility issues that may be related to Rose’s weight. The story details a visit to a pre-conception clinic and the struggle that Rose and Michael face in addressing underlyin...
By Cheuk Hin Li
This case study follows the struggles of "James" as he copes with extreme pain resulting from an automobile accident. Unable to manage his symptoms with over-the-counter drugs, James is prescribed oxycodone but fails to strictly follow the inst...
Keeping to the Straight and Narrow
By Jody L. Vogelzang
This case study tells the story of a group of ten men, recently released from federal penitentiaries, who are housed in a residential reentry center for the remainder of their sentences. Their stay is intended to bridge the gap between incarceration ...
By Susan Nava-Whitehead, Kerri W. Augusto, Korryna A. Finkelstein, Shianna Cruz, Joel Clark
This interdisciplinary case study uses the format of a progressive disclosure to explore certain advances in biotechnology and evaluate them within the framework of societal needs, concerns and pressures. When faced with a heart valve transplan...
By Jane P. Sheldon, Diane R. Graves
This directed case study begins with an intentionally ambiguous story: Q suddenly realizes that it is time to relay a message to Z (another inhabitant of their home) to let Z know that it's time to produce some items and send them on to accomplices i...
By Andrew T. Johnson, Anna M. Jähn
This case study is about a German man named Fritz Jähn. Fritz was physically active in his youth and an achievement-striving individual who was academically and professionally accomplished. He distinguished himself as an anesthesiologist and a fathe...
By Jane P. Sheldon, Danielle Balaghi
This case study tells the story of Mo, an individual with social anxiety disorder who seeks mental health treatment. The purpose of this case is not to have students diagnose the central figure, but rather to help students gain insight into one way i...
By Joan-Beth Gow, Lisa A. Carpino
This case study introduces Megi, an active teenager who has recovered from anorexia nervosa. The method of progressive disclosure is used to take students back in time as Megi recalls the physical and psychological aspects of her illness and th...
By Amy B. Dounay, Lori L. Driscoll, Phoebe M. Blessing, Hallie M. Comfort, Joshua M. Mares
This interrupted case study explores the scientific, legal, and societal complexities of repurposing an illicit substance, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as "Ecstasy" or "Molly," into a clinically accepted medicine for treating ...
By Jane P. Sheldon, Susana M. Peciña
This directed case study follows two college roommates, Darrell and Anthony, who have just returned to school after winter vacation. They share that their ageing fathers are concerned about their declining faculties and are amused by their fathers' e...
By Jamie S. Hughes
This case study challenges students to understand and apply a set of concepts from the domain of social psychology to an inflammatory article that was published in The Guardian. Students prepare by reading a chapter on prejudice and stereotyping and ...
By Sandra L. Cooke, Elysia Berkery, Adelle D. Monteblanco, Silvia Secchi
Healthy river systems serve a wide variety of functions, including recreation, crop production, and navigation. Effective floodplain management requires integrating cultural, economic and ecosystem needs, and often tradeoffs must be made. This case s...
By Andrew T. Johnson, Amanda R. Laurenceau
In the 1983 Big Eight Conference championship football game, Neil Harris deflected a pass with 32 seconds to go in a play that stopped the University of Oklahoma from scoring and clinched Nebraska's perfect 12-0 season, a third consecutive Big Eight ...
By Kelly M. Cobourn, Edward R. Landa, Gail E. Wagner
This case explores the complex and multifaceted resource management issues that arose when traditional Zuni Indian land and water use practices were displaced by the construction of the Black Rock Irrigation Project by the U.S. government in the earl...
Community-Based Management and Conservation in Africa
By Narcisa G. Pricope, Andrea E. Gaughan, Susan C. Caplow
Niko lives in Namibia and is about to attend a community meeting at which the fate of his family's re-settlement will be decided. He is not sure what would be best for his family; his father does not want to move while his brother is optimistic that ...
Abnormal Psychology in the Hundred Acre Wood
By Antoinette Miller
In 2000, Sara E. Shea and co-authors published "Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: A neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne" in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. That article gave provisional "diagnoses" to Christopher Robin and his co...
By Dan Hua, Brian R. Murphy, Michelle D. Klopfer
The Three Gorges Dam in China is one of the world's largest hydroelectric dams, providing energy for millions of people. However, the dam's construction forever altered the Yangtze River ecosystem and the lives of local residents. In this case study,...
By Eric Ribbens
This autobiographical case study presents the story of Eric as he learns that he has a genetic eye disease, which progresses to the point that he becomes legally blind. The story is true and, in this respect, similar to another case by the same autho...
The Big Bad Wolf or Symbol of the American Wilderness?
By Morgan Gray, Mario K. Klip, Alex R. Krohn, Ryan A. Marsh, Leslie A. McGinnis
Students enrolled in natural resource programs typically have classroom experience in science-based curricula with little exposure as to how to apply that science to real-life issues. This case study was designed to introduce students to understandin...
Under the Knife and Completely Aware
By Patrick R. Field, Gabrielle Gangemi, Taylor Kinsley
This case study is based on a newspaper article about the suicide of Sherman Sizemore shortly after he underwent an exploratory laparotomy (abdominal surgery). After his surgery, Sherman experienced symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress dis...
By Karen M. Aguirre
This case study introduces students to Dr. E.L. Trudeau, who performed a seminal early experiment validating the germ theory of infection. Part I introduces Trudeau's Rabbit Island experiment, which is simple and easy for beginning or non-major stude...
The Case of the Jamaican Fisherman
By Joyce A. Shaw
Designed for a first- or second-semester Anatomy & Physiology course, this directed case study involves a 48-year-old Jamaican fisherman who suffered a cerebrovascular accident. He was taken to a hospital, where he stayed for three days bef...
Why Was the 1918 Influenza So Deadly?
By Annie Prud’homme-Genereux, Carmen A. Petrick
In this intimate debate, students examine the causes of the devastation wrought by the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic. Students consider whether the 1918 flu was exceptionally deadly because of its biology, or whether prevalent geopolitical-socioeco...
By Giselle A. McCallum, Annie Prud’homme-Genereux
This case study uses the example of ionic foot baths to examine how placebo treatments can affect our health and wellness. Inspired by a student’s real visit to a spa, the story begins with a description of the experience of an ionic foot bath, and...
A Social-Cognitive Exploration of Reactions to Leiby Kletzky's Abduction and Homicide
By Jamie G. McMinn, Dana S. Dunn
An eight-year-old boy, abducted while walking home from day camp, is killed and dismembered, and his alleged murderer, a member of the boy's community, is arrested. Students read details about the case with the goal of exploring how people have respo...
By Keith K. Schillo
This case explores the question of whether gender identity is determined strictly by genetics (nature) or social variables (nurture). It is based on a true story about a man who was raised as a girl and later rejected the female gender identity...
Mini Cases in Psychoactive Drugs and Their Effects on the Brain
By Darlene A. Mitrano
Designed for an upper-level psychology class titled Brain & Behavior, this series of mini-cases can be used in any undergraduate course that covers the major classes of commonly abused legal and illicit psychoactive drugs from a biological standp...
By Deborah Engelen-Eigles
This four-part problem-based learning case examines cultural conflicts between Western medicine and non-Western traditional healing practices. Students consider notions of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism through the lens of social institutions,...
By Joan-Beth Gow, Susan Nava-Whitehead, Kerri W. Augusto
In this interdisciplinary case, students meet Josie, the main character, who suffers from a variety of symptoms. Students must grapple with the conflicting data presented, which ultimately leads them to a diagnosis of either porphyria or schizophreni...
By Kristen N. Hausmann, Karen M. Aguirre
This interdisciplinary case study introduces us to the Greens, a family with a recently diagnosed autistic child. Autism is one of several disorders grouped within the acronym ASD, or autism spectrum disorders. Autistic children have problems with co...
By Md Rumi Shammin, John Petersen, Jordan F. Suter
This role-playing case on climate change policy is designed to engage student groups in parallel discussions on policy instruments and packages for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, student groups discuss cap-and-trade and carbon ta...
By Jennifer Feenstra
Two friends debate whether people leave their parking spaces faster if others are waiting. They decide to see if they can design a study to test their ideas. In this interrupted case study, students develop a research question and hypothesis an...
By Antoinette Miller
This series of mini cases focuses on language deficits (aphasias) and their likely organic causes (problems in specific brain areas). Students read one of the six cases, which are based on actual cases reported in the literature, and connect the symp...
Joe Joins the Circus (or Elephant Love)
By Jennifer Feenstra
In this interrupted case study, students cover concepts and terms related to classical and operant conditioning as they read about how "Joe," an animal trainer for a circus, trains the two elephants in his charge. Joe sets about his task using concep...
By Susan Nava-Whitehead, Joan-Beth Gow
This case study examines the Salem witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s. It is designed to provide students with an opportunity to analyze and critique data and help them understand the scientific method. Originally...
By Antoinette Miller
This series of mini cases focuses on the cortical areas associated with vision and visual perception. Each case depicts a breakdown in visual perception that may be traced to damage in an area or areas of the visual system and is based upon an actual...