JoinAll Case Studies
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Suggested Keywords, to help with your search (besides selecting subjects): clicker cases, directed cases, interrupted cases, discussion cases, intimate debate cases. As a reminder, all cases may be adjusted to meet the needs of your student level. See our case use guidelines.
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If Only These Bones Could Talk
By Ashley E. Rhodes
This case study begins with a forensic investigation about animal bones. As the case unfolds, more and more is revealed about the bones and students are invited to hypothesize how the information discovered within the bone tissue provides clues...
By Jayashree Sarathy, Faith Donner, Tiara Perez Morales, Daniyal Mehmood, Gerda Simkeviciute
This directed case study is designed to improve the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Laboratory test results from real patients are used to tell the story of three individuals in a family who test positive for COVID and are hospitalized during ...
Creatine and the Case of the Aging Athlete
By Scott Medler
This case study examines the interconnections between creatine, creatinine, muscle physiology, and kidney function. “Jan,” a woman in her mid-40s, leaves her doctor’s appointment with questions about her slightly elevated creatinine levels. Aft...
Is It Hot in Here, or Is It Just Me?
By Amanda J. Chunco, Patricia A. Thomas-Laemont
Menopause is an evolutionary conundrum. Why would something evolve that reduces the number of potential offspring that an individual can have? And yet, even though rare, menopause not only exists, but has evolved multiple times in a few different spe...
By Margaret A. Holzer, Carrie A. Ferraro, Malin L. Pinsky, Rebecca L. Selden, Eva A. Papaioannou
This interrupted case study explores how climate change is impacting the distribution and abundance of fish species, how fishers and fishing communities are adapting to shifts in species ranges and abundances, and how we can effectively manage fish s...
By Christopher E. Braganca, Nicole M. Dib, Catherine M. Kelly, Philip J. Stephens
This interrupted case study tells the story of “Emily,” a recent college graduate who has taken a gap year to follow her dream of becoming a pediatric doctor. As part of her post-graduate activities, she goes on a one-month humanitarian trip to S...
By Bruce C. Palmquist, Megan L. Rivard
Saturn is not the only solar system object with rings. In 2014, astronomers used stellar occultation to discover two rings around Chariklo, a minor planet called a centaur found between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. This case study turns the disco...
By Winyoo Chowanadisai, Bryant H. Keirns
Selenocysteine is commonly referred to as the 21st amino acid and is incorporated into selenoproteins through exceptional yet logical and systematic circumstances. This case study is designed for students to get hands-on experience working with a bio...
By Samantha N. Jewell, Julian A. Brix
This directed case study is set during the height of the COVID-19 (SARS CoV-2) pandemic. The storyline follows “Alex” as he tries to understand how he contracted the disease. In order to understand viral transmission from surfaces, students are p...
By Emma K. Roberts, Giuliana DiMarco, Nitish Mittal, Hannah Olvera, Breanna N. Harris
In this interrupted case study, students assume the role of a first-year medical resident starting their OB-GYN rotation with “Dr. Peera.” When a patient is rushed to the ER with back pain, vaginal discharge, and severe abdominal cramps, Dr. Peer...
By Bwalya Lungu
This directed case study is based on an actual multi-state foodborne illness outbreak that occurred in the United States from October 2015 through January 2016. The outbreak involved consumption of food contaminated by E.coli STEC O26 and was traced ...
Deep in the Weeds of Organic Farming
By Matthew S. Taylor, Mariëlle H. Hoefnagels, Mark E. Walvoord
Deciding between organic or conventional produce is one of the many choices that consumers make when buying food. Is organic produce worth the extra cost? Is it healthy and good for the environment? This case study challenges students to gather evide...
By Kuei-Chiu Chen
In this interrupted case study, students learn about the influence of early fetal nutritional conditions on the expression of genes related to metabolism and growth. Beginning with the true event of a food and fuel embargo that led to famine in the w...
By Shuangying Yu, Weston McNeely
This “clicker case” tells the story of “Hannah,” a baby girl adopted by two loving parents who grows up with an uncontrolled appetite and develops severe early-onset obesity. Students follow Hannah’s story as she develops excessive eating e...
An Anatomic Study of the Automatic Autonomic Nervous System
By Hollie L. Leavitt
This interrupted case study begins with a woman’s discovery that both she and her husband are carriers for familial dysautonomia (FD), a disease that affects the development and survival of neurons in the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The case co...
By Alexis Lee, Diane Kim, Eric Sternlicht, Caroline H. Wilson
This case study is based on a true story of a professor who had hearing and balance issues and was subsequently diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma). As learners label images, generate hypotheses, and think critically about Profe...
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...
Bringing Mammoths Back from Extinction
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema, Sara D. Miller, Claudia E. Vergara
The focus of this case study is on the development of scientific and information literacies. Working on activities that address audience, purpose, language, authority, and use of evidence, students examine how the ways in which information sources ar...
By Eric R. Sandhurst, Jevin G. Meyerink, Steven Powell, Brooklyn K. VanDerWolde, Adison A. Kleinsasser, Thomas R. Vierhout, Jessica L.S. Zylla, Madeline A. Valentin
This case study is a role-playing game designed to guide students through the process of diagnosing five common types of cancer. Players roll a 20-sided die and receive information from various healthcare professionals in an oncology clinic setting. ...
By Kristen H. Short
This interrupted case study leads students through an exploration of the evolutionary origin of apparently cooperative guarding behavior in meerkats. Students generate hypotheses, evaluate the predictions associated with them, and then analyze graphi...
By Geoffrey M. Lippa, Heather Zimbler-DeLorenzo, Jean A. Cardinale
This directed case study with laboratory components is an adaptation of a “clicker case” by Terry Platt that reviews basic chemistry to explain pH and buffers (see “Acids, pH and Buffers: Some Basic Chemistry for Biological Science” published...
By Obidimma Ezezika, Mona Jarrah, Shawanah Rahman
In this case study, students follow “Mr. Okoro” as he makes the long journey with his sick daughter “Ada” to seek medical attention at the nearest clinic in Enugu, Nigeria. It is the rainy season, and “Dr. Fabian” from the Division of Par...
Seq’ ing the Cure: Standard Edition
By Heather B. Miller, Sabrina D. Robertson, Melissa C. Srougi
This directed, interrupted case study is designed to introduce students to high-throughput sequencing technologies and cutting-edge methods of gene editing. The case offers students relevant, hands-on experience in manipulating large sequencing data ...
Seq’ ing the Cure: Neuroscience Edition
By Heather B. Miller, Sabrina D. Robertson, Melissa C. Srougi
This directed, interrupted case study is designed to introduce students to high-throughput sequencing technologies and cutting-edge methods of gene editing. The case offers students relevant, hands-on experience in manipulating large sequencing data ...
By Lior M. Burko
This case study takes the form of a dialogue between three students searching for a definition of life. The characters are very loosely based on Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. The three students are a physics student (Da...
Are Oxpeckers Friends or Foes?
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema
Symbiotic relationships are interactions between species that live closely with each other and are commonly separated into three types: parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism. Students are often under the impression that these types are distinct and...
Confusion in the Cardiology Wing
By Sarah K. Thomas, Katherine N. Harris, Breanna N. Harris
In this interrupted case study, students assume the role of a first-year resident whose first patient arrives by ambulance with a suspected myocardial infarction (MI) in progress. Students consider which clinical tests would be helpful to confirm the...
By Ruth S. Bowers-Sword, Jack C. Doss, Bruce A. Wiggins
This interrupted case study focuses on a biological phenomenon known as temperature-dependent sex determination to guide students through the scientific method. Using the endangered green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, as a model, students prepare for c...
By Mary Whitwell
This case study is an account of the injuries sustained by a triathlete who crashed his bike at 44 mph during the 2017 Lake Placid Ironman triathlon. The case is designed for use as a final project in an undergraduate anatomy and physiology course, w...
By Emily Cornelius Ruhs, Cynthia J. Downs
This interrupted case study introduces students to resource-based trade-offs and immune-based trade-offs, and the implications of these trade-offs on the spread of disease. Students are first asked to interpret data on the energetically demandi...
By Sebastian A. Schormann, James E. Boyett, Samiksha A. Raut
This interrupted case study tells the story of “Michael Mathers,” a tourist traveling on a cruise ship who suddenly becomes sick. Despite receiving a preliminary diagnosis and treatment by the cruise ship doctor, Mr. Mathers’ symptoms continue ...
By Carlos C. Goller, Stefanie H. Chen, Melissa C. Srougi
This case study is designed to raise awareness of the use of high-throughput screening (HTS), the resources available at PubChem, and the potential for discovery of promising therapeutics in collections of existing drugs. Students prepare for the cas...
By Courtney L. McGinnis, Jacob M. Laperche
This interrupted case study was inspired by a real-life scenario, and tells the story of “Luis,” a local banana plantation seasonal worker whose health is impacted by the usage of pesticides on bananas. With the help of a healthcare team, Luis...
By Matthew L. Simon, Nathan A. Quarderer
Consider evidence that we are in a period of rapidly warming climate, likely with anthropogenic causation. Understand that humans can be severely impacted by short-term climatic events. Understand that the functioning of global ecosystems reli...
By Tyler C. Leary, Whitney E. Smith, Tara T. Francis
Bear bile is a prized ingredient used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine for its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects, but the means by which bile is collected from live, captive bears has recently become a topic of contro...
Intravenous Error Precipitates Legal Problems
By Marsha A. Grimminger
In this directed case study, students are presented with a legal case about a patient who died after an infusion containing the solid precipitate calcium phosphate. The lawsuit was filed to determine if the pharmacist, physician, or nurse was at faul...
By Ghizlane Bendriss, Ali Chaari, Kuei-Chiu Chen
This directed case study with a lab component tells the story of “Sara,” a college sophomore majoring in biological science. Sara has been awarded an internship in a lab focusing on sequencing gene markers for species identification. On her first...
By Juanita K. Jellyman, Hannah Ticheli
This case study tells the story of “Claire,” an undergraduate student experiencing symptoms commonly attributed to stress as she juggles a demanding academic schedule, a part-time job, and the challenges that come from living away from home for t...
By Brenda F. Canine, Michael L. Dini, Breanna N. Harris
In this modular case study, students discover how the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) membrane channel protein affects multiple physiological systems. The case is divided into an introductory narrative followed by five sect...
Directed Evolution of Nanobodies for COVID-19 Prevention
By Stefanie H. Chen, Andrea Bixler
Directed evolution is a laboratory process that mimics the steps of natural selection to efficiently determine variants of proteins or organisms that respond more effectively to a selected condition. This process was recognized by the 2018 Nobel Priz...