JoinAll Case Studies
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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
Do You Really Know What You're Eating?
By Wayne Shew (rr), Mary Celeste Reese
Starting from a fictional “news” report about an apparent allergic reaction to a taco tainted by genetically modified corn, students consider some of the techniques and procedures used in modern molecular genetics and microbiology as well as some...
Equal Time for Intelligent Design?
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
Whether Intelligent Design should be taught in a science classroom is a serious problem. This case study tackles the issue head-on by using intimate debate, a pedagogical structure in which small student groups are subdivided into opposing student pa...
By Karen M. Aguirre
Dengue (pronounced "deng-ee") is a viral disease transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito, usually Aedes aegypti. It is common in tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia, India, South and Central America, and Mexico. There is concern that ...
By Sohum Sohoni, Matt Reiten
The storyline of this case study describes a failure of a central system (much like the Internet of today) that occurs in the future, with some degree of mystery as to the cause. Originally designed for a junior level introductory course on microproc...
By David K. Spierer, Sandra Williams, Jim Lyttle
Two speakers have been invited to a town hall meeting to help decide a hotly contested issue. A grant has been awarded to the school district with the stipulation that the money be dedicated to only one program. School officials wish to use the funds...
Streams of Coal or Streams of Death?
By Linda Niedziela
Mary Beth was raised in Western Pennsylvania, an area where thousands of abandoned coal mines have led to extensive contamination of streams and associated ground waters. Aquatic life has clearly suffered, but the health effects on people living alon...
By Philip J. Stephens
This interrupted case study in cardiovascular physiology focuses on Suzie, a determined young woman who is training hard for the upcoming figure skating season. But family dynamics combined with high aspirations of competing in the Olympic Games have...
The Medicinal Use of Marijuana
By Clyde Freeman Herreid, Kristie DuRei
Whether marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes has been contested for decades. The claims, counter-claims, issues, and judgments in this high profile controversy make it an excellent candidate for “intimate debate.” While similar to...
By Susan Behrens, Linda Carozza
This case study on clinical practice, preparation, and acumen follows the story of Emily, an intelligent, hard working, and motivated student who yet encounters difficulties in the clinical fieldwork component of her senior seminar. A follow-up secti...
The Fate and Transport of Toxic Releases
By David W. Kelley
The release of toxins into the environment and the federal government's tracking of that using the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are the focus of this case study, which uses GIS to explore th...
By Cathy Silver Key
In this directed case study, students read about a little girl with beta-thalassemia, a life-threatening disease. Through a series of increasingly complex activities, they learn how alternative pre-mRNA processing (splicing) has caused her disease an...
By Wilma V. Colon Parrilla
In this case study, students analyze a scientific study, first by analyzing news articles reporting on the research and then by reading the original research article. In working through the case, students identify the basic elements of a scientific s...
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
This case is based upon a real experience. It is written as an exercise for faculty to discuss, perhaps in a brown bag seminar at lunch time. In many ways it represents a rather common type of problem, cheating—what to do about it and how to preven...
I'm Looking Over a White-Striped Clover
By Susan Evarts, Alison Krufka, Chester Wilson
This case is an exploration of the process of natural selection using white clover (Trifolium repens) as an example. In general, two forms of white clover can be found around the world in various habitats. One type is able to produce cyanide in its l...
By Richard Cowlishaw, Charles Hunter, Jason Coy, Michael Tessmer
This case is a classroom simulation of the types of negotiations that went into the Kyoto Protocol agreement on limiting global greenhouse gas emissions. It was developed for an environmental science course for first-year college students with minima...
By Linda Markowitz, Catherine Dana Santanello
The main objective of this case is to have students critically examine the costs and the benefits associated with ecotourism, a form of tourism usuallly involving visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas intended as ...
By Wayne Shew (rr)
This case, based on an actual case of product tampering that occurred in Seattle in 1986, was designed for use in an introductory course in forensic science for non-science majors. By working through the case, students gain an understanding of the va...
By Melinda Box
This case study, developed for an introductory chemistry course as part of a two-year dental hygiene curriculum, teaches students how to apply gas properties and gas storage identification systems to identify a mishandled or mislabeled gas cylinder. ...
By Susan M. Galatowitsch, Barbara A. Peichel
The essential elements of this dilemma case are based on a real-life wetland mitigation problem. A biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has to decide whether to improve a wetland adversely impacted by toxins or restore another site inste...
A Case of X-linked Agammaglobulinemia
By David F. Dean (rr)
Though a normal, full-term baby at birth, starting at about 10 months of age “Billy DeWitt” has suffered a series of infections, including sinusitis, otitis media, and pneumonia. Students read a brief clinical history of the patient and a descrip...
By David F. Dean (rr)
Seven-year-old “Jason Hornbuckle” has been complaining for the past 12 hours of pain when he swallows. He also has a headache and has vomited twice. His mother decides to take him to the pediatrician. Students read a brief clini...
A Case of Iron Deficiency Anemia
By David F. Dean (rr)
“Dolores Welborn,” a 28-year-old attorney, is pregnant with her first child. Lately she has been tiring easily and is often short of breath. She has also had periods of light-headedness, cramping in her legs, and a sore tongue. Students read a br...
By David F. Dean (rr)
“Carolyn Jones” is a 40-year-old professor of economics. The past week she has felt tried and weak. The past few days she has noticed small, red dots on her skin and gums. Even more upsetting, she cut herself while making dinner and the wou...
Paul Seymour, Assistant Professor
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
This case study explores two of the major issues that confront new faculty when they experiment with a new method of teaching like case study teaching. The first issue is how to introduce the new method into the classroom successfully when both the i...
By Katayoun Chamany
In this case study on multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, students consider ways in which to preserve health as a human right without subjecting already marginalized communities susceptible to the disease to further discrimination. Students lear...
By Peggy Brickman
This case is based on a lurid crime featured on the BBC program Crimewatch in December 2001 that was solved thanks to forensic DNA analysis. Students learn how the structure of DNA and the mechanism used by cells to duplicate DNA were critical to the...
War, Death, and Cognitive Dissonance
By Jamie G. McMinn
This case study explores cognitive dissonance theory, a theory proposed by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1956 to explain the tension that exists when peoples’ attitudes are incongruent with their behaviors. Students read a news article describing ...
By Bryan Hains, Dawn Hains, Mark Balschweid
In this case study, students are introduced to concepts and techniques in modern biotechnology, as well as the possible implications of this emerging science, by considering the possibility of in vitro cultured meat. Intended for use in a college-lev...
By Brent J.F. Hill
In this problem-based learning case, students read about a 41-year-old woman who is suffering from recurring headaches. Working in small groups, the students analyze a variety of information and then formulate a diagnosis. This case study was develop...
A Lake Runs Through It . . . Or Is It a River? Or Something Else?
By Christine A. Lai, Julio C. Rivera, Jr.
In the late 1990s, the town of Tempe, Arizona, proposed developing the dry riverbed of the Salt River into a lake that would become a recreational and economic focal point for the city as well as a potential tourist destination. The project presented...
Marketing Mostly Intangible Goods
By Jorge A. Santiago-Blay
This case study illustrates some of the common social and economic problems facing botanical gardens and arboreta today. The case describes a conversation between Angie and Suzie, two long-time staff members at an unnamed botanical garden. The women ...
By Barry Chess
In this interrupted case study, Greg and Olga, a young couple planning a family, have decided to see a genetic counselor because of a family history of genetic disease. Students construct a pedigree from the information presented in the case; then, o...
By Frank J. Dinan
This case study explores the unintended side effects of chemicals introduced into the environment, specifically organic compounds that can act as environmental estrogens (chemical castration agents that can interfere with the sexual development of em...
Can Suminoe Oysters Save Chesapeake Bay?
By Valerie Nieman, Zhi-Jun Liu
This dilemma case explores the controversy over introducing non-native oysters to the Chesapeake Bay as a means of improving its ecological and economic health. Developed for use in an interdisciplinary doctoral program in energy and environmental st...
By Thomas A. Davis
The topic of this debate case, developed for a course in “Issues in Environmental Biology,” is clear-cutting, a controversial method of harvesting and regenerating trees in which all trees are cleared from a site. Students debate the issue, assum...
Saving Superman: Ethics and Stem Cell Research
By Doug M. Post (rr), Doug Knutson
This case explores the political and ethical issues associated with stem cell research. Students read the case describing Christopher Reeve’s accident and injuries and his advocacy for stem cell research along with background readings on stem cells...
By Thomas A. Davis
In this case, developed for a course in Issues in Environmental Biology, students learn that water samples collected from a local river show elevated levels of fecal bacteria and atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States...
By Doug Knutson, Doug M. Post (rr)
This case was developed to teach first-year medical students about medical ethics as they apply to patient communication. Students receive an introductory lecture covering the basics of giving bad news and then are asked to apply what they have learn...
By Doug M. Post (rr), Doug Knutson
This case study on physician-assisted suicide is used in a medical ethics course. The case itself is a short article published in 1991 in the New England Journal of Medicine in which Dr. Timothy E. Quill described his care for a patient suffering fro...
Why Does Grandpa Ignore Grandma?
By Benjamin F. Timson, Scott D. Zimmerman
Carla, a first semester graduate student in audiology, has noticed that her grandfather appears to be having trouble hearing what her grandmother says. Other people in the family can’ help but notice it too as it becomes a source of increasing aggr...