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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By Linda L. Tichenor
This case study on the immune system, cell cycle regulation, and cancer biology explores the role that serendipity plays in new discoveries in science, how scientific research is funded, and the personal and professional implications of unexpectedly ...
Gender: In the Genes or in the Jeans?
By William J. Hoese, Judith R. Gibber, Bonnie S. Wood
How are males and females different? Most people have a sex that is consistent on all levels: genetic, gonadal, internal genitals, external genitals. But sometimes there are discrepancies. This case explores the biology of human sexual differentiatio...
By Stephanie Vail, Clyde Freeman Herreid
This case presents a fanciful story about the origin of the eukaryotic cell, a major milestone in the evolution of life. The characters of the story are Mito, Chlora, Flag, ER, Nuc, Golgi, Ves, and Ly, all members of an extended cellular family. Writ...
By Lisa Marie Rubin
This directed case study focuses on the physiology of bone homeostasis and methods of prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. One of the overall purposes of the case is to show students that osteoporosis is not simply a disease that afflicts elderl...
By Merri Lynn Casem
This case study was developed for a first-semester foundations course for biology majors. It is based on two conflicting reports in the scientific literature on the status of nanobacteria as living organisms in order to explore basic concepts related...
By Lisa Marie Rubin, Clyde Freeman Herreid
This problem-based case focuses on the female menstrual cycle and early stages of pregnancy of an unwed teenager. Working in small groups, students identify the learning issues for each part of the story and research answers to their questions. They ...
Something’s Fishy in Paxton Lake
By Joan Sharp
In this interrupted case study, students explore the mechanisms of speciation while working in groups to design a series of experiments to determine whether two populations of sticklebacks in Paxton Lake in British Columbia represent separate species...
By Darlene Panvini
This case examines the biological, ecological, social, political, and economic factors surrounding exotic species as well as the role of resource managers in shaping public policy on environmental issues. In addition to conservation ecology courses, ...
By Wayne Seames
The characters in this dilemma case must balance personal financial considerations, their professional futures, and time constraints against ensuring that the new product they are proposing is safe. The case explores the issues surrounding ethical de...
The Case of the Newborn Nightmare
By Andrea C. Wade
Three newborns left in the care of "Dr. Mark Maddison" have developed a mysterious rash. Under increasing pressure from hospital administrators and distressed parents, the doctor must diagnose and treat the infants. Students are given discrete pieces...
All That Glitters May Not Be Gold
By Gerald F. Combs, Jr
In this decision case, a congressional staffer must weigh a number of competing concerns and issues, including popular reactions to genetically modified organisms, in deciding how to present information to her boss, an influential congressman draftin...
By Patrick R. Field, Thomas A. Cappaert
In this case study, students read about the injuries sustained by a young man hurt in a serious diving accident. To solve the case, they must determine the type of central nervous system injury described using their knowledge of the differences betwe...
The Cheerleader and the Football Player
By Malati M. Patil
As the result of a wager between the school football team and its cheerleading squad, one of the cheerleaders has to lift a 300-pound football player off the ground. In this directed case study, students learn about the mechanical principle of the pu...
A Case Study of Memory Loss in Mice
By Michael S. Hudecki (rr)
This discussion case explores the scientific process involved in implementing an animal model in the study of Alzheimer’s disease. Students read a short paragraph describing a study in which the brains of “trained” mice were injected with beta-...
To Vaccinate, or Not to Vaccinate
By Caren D. Shapiro
The case was prompted by a newspaper story about a couple who refused on religious grounds to have their son vaccinated even though vaccination is a requirement for admission to the public schools. It explores the issues surrounding the necessity and...
Dr. Collins and the Case of the Mysterious Infection
By Paula P. Lemons, Sarah K. Huber
In this case study, Dr. Collins must diagnose and prescribe treatment for a young patient with a serious infection. Students receive pieces of the case in a progressive disclosure format and answer questions about bacterial infection, antibiotics, an...
By Alease S. Bruce
In this case study, a forensic anthropologist must determine the age and sex as well as look for signs of trauma to a skeleton found in a shallow grave in a state park. Students simulate the actual procedures used in a forensics lab and learn to iden...
By Shoshana Tobias, Clyde F. Herreid
This case study combines problem-based learning, role-playing, and science fiction as students research the environmental conditions of the Cambrian period and the types of organisms that developed during that time as they speculate about possible ca...
By Michael E. Ryan
The 1999 accident at the Tokaimura nuclear fuel processing plant near Tokyo is the context for a student discussion on nuclear power and the consequences of a nuclear accident. This particular accident was chosen because of the associated dramatic af...
Eating PCBs from Lake Ontario - Is There an Effect or Not?
By Eric Ribbens
This case is based on an actual news release reporting on research about the effects of eating Lake Ontario fish contaminated with PCBs. Developed to teach students about statistical analysis and experimental design, the case has been used in a senio...
By Karen Chambers
This case explores the fundamental principles of memory, eyewitness accuracy, and police questioning techniques in witness identification in a criminal case. By studying the details of an actual series of attacks and the subsequent police investigati...
By Melissa Riley
In this case, students use lab techniques to determine how the protagonist of the story, a student in a plant pathology class, can find out what is wrong with his mother’s roses. The case introduces students to sources of information for the proper...
By Nathan Strong
The physically demanding sport of competitive rowing is the backdrop for this case about homeostasis in which students follow the physiological changes that occur in an athlete competing in a 2000-meter race. The case was developed for use in a secon...
By Lauren E. Yaich
In this case study about a baby born with the genetic condition holoprosencephaly, students explore the “Sonic hedgehog” gene, signal transduction, and the ethics of body and tissue donation. The assignment involves students writing an informed c...
By Elizabeth Harper
This case encourages students to explore various aspects of alternative and complementary medicine that might be helpful in treating a woman who is suffering from scoliosis. The case was developed for use in a variety of settings, ranging from an int...
By Kim R. Finer
This case uses the real story of Dawn Langley Simmons, who may have been misidentified as male at birth, to illustrate the developmental basis of human sexual dimorphism and how gender misidentification may occur. Students also consider the emotional...
By Frank J. Dinan, Joseph Bieron
In this case study, students grapple with the complex issues surrounding the use of DDT to control malaria in the developing world. In their examination of the issue, students consider risk/benefit analysis and the precautionary principle, two techni...
By Eric Ribbens
A town meeting is the setting for this case study in which students explore the topics of overpopulation, bioethics, and management of urban wildlife. The case makes use of role playing, small group discussion, interrupted case techniques, and critic...
By Katayoun Chamany
This case study is based on the identification of 50 children who were displaced during Argentina’s Dirty War of the 1970s, subjected to DNA and protein analysis, and subsequently reunited with their biological families. The case demonstrates the r...
By Christopher Rump
This directed case study, based on a question asked in a newspaper column about a popular carnival game of chance, was developed for an undergraduate course introducing probabilistic models. Students answer questions that explore both correct and inc...
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
This interrupted case study is based on a journal article on the parenting behavior of American coots. Working through the case, students develop hypotheses and design experiments to test their hypotheses as they are given pieces of the case in an in...
By Christine M. Catney
In this case, designed for beginning pharmacy students, an elderly woman apparently “in excellent health” suddenly becomes ill and health care practitioners must determine the cause. The case is written in a four-part progressive disclosure forma...
By Bill Rhodes, Maha M. Alkhazindar, Nancy A. Schiller
This discussion case, in which a university research laboratory is vandalized by environmental activists opposed to genetic engineering, focuses on the science and ethics of genetically modified crops. Students consider both the risks and benefits of...
By Albert Titus
The Mars Climate Orbiter was deployed by NASA as part of a mission to study weather and climate on Mars. It was supposed to enter orbit at an altitude of 140.5–150 km (460,000-500,000 ft) above Mars, but due to an error, the spacecr...
By Arne Tarnvik
This case study focuses on a young mother whose child attends a day care center where there has been an outbreak of bacterial meningitis. The case explores the need for health care workers to provide relevant medical information and advice to patient...
By Christopher Rump
In this directed case study, students build a Markov chain probability model of marriage and divorce using statistics - the chance of divorcing in a given year and the chance of divorcing eventually - taken from an article on the divorce rates. Devel...
By Karol P. Rejman
This case study, about a developmentally disabled, 30-weeks-pregnant 19-year-old, presents some of the patient management issues that health care workers face. The case is used in a graduate level seminar for family nurse practitioner students going ...
By David L. Ozsvath
Designed for use with small groups in an introductory geology class, this case allows students to determine the relationship between sinkhole development in a karst terrain and groundwater levels. Students then apply this knowledge to a lawsuit filed...
By James A. Hewlett
In this case study, students apply principles of evolution they have learned in class to create their own story explaining the evolutionary history of a previously unknown species of rodent discovered on an island in the West Indies. The case study i...
By Swamy Anantheswaran
“Leo Altamari,” CEO of Kutztown Meat Packing Corporation, has just come back from his Monday morning staff meeting, where the major agenda item was a discussion about the irradiation of meat products. Leo must decide whether his company sho...