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 Mehron S. Dhillon, Daniel Na, Christopher R. Kawata, Jacelyn Swede, Parth N. Patel, Angelika F. Ringor, Joshua Chu, Andrea C. Nicholas
This case study explores the 2016–2018 cholera outbreak in Yemen and how political and financial circumstances impacted relief efforts. Students research the basics of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium and then amplify their understanding in class thro...
Are Vaccines and Autism Linked?
By David M. Zuckerman
This case study was written to reinforce the understanding that a successful hypothesis accounts for all relevant observations and is falsifiable through experimentation. Students evaluate two competing hypotheses to account for the increase in autis...
By P. Logan Mounce, Breanna N. Harris
In this interrupted case study, students follow “Joseph Summers” as he attempts to do a late-night relocation of a snake exhibit as a response to an imminent hurricane. After a series of unfortunate events, Joseph is bitten by an unknown venomous...
By Adela M. Acosta
In this case study, “Tatiana,” a college student, introduces psychrometry to her younger brother as she explains the physical phenomenon of dew. This everyday scenario is used to demonstrate the relationship between moisture content in the air an...
By Melissa R. Eslinger, Ryan E. Rodriguez, Jonathan W. Roginski
This case study centers on “Tom,” a 43-year-old male patient, and his recent genetic sequencing results and diagnosis of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2A). Tom has a heterozygous mutation within the RET gene, a proto-oncogene, which con...
By Julia A. Emerson, Andrew E. Emerson
In this interrupted case study, students examine the fundamental connections between genotype, 3-D protein structure and phenotype by exploring possible underlying causes of the human genetic disorder, spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDC), a...
By Sheri L. Boyce
Twenty-year-old “Drew” observes his grandmother “Mimi” decline as she stubbornly refuses treatment for her chronic kidney disease. Students examine some basic markers of declining renal function and predict which acid-base disorder Mimi has, ...
By Nora S. Green
Cancer is a complex and varied group of diseases. There are, however, several common characteristics among all cancers. For example, it has been known for a long time that glucose consumption and the rate of glycolysis is much higher in most cancer c...
From Tackle to Tension Pneumothorax
By William B. Kist, Kyle Smith, Andrea Fentem, Chaya Gopalan
Tension pneumothorax is a condition that is associated with air in the pleural space. In this case study, tension pneumothorax is caused by a rupture in the pleura of the lung due to blunt force trauma. Students are presented with a patient scenario ...
By Gokhan Hacisalihoglu, Courtenay C. Strickland
Can plants be used to “strike it rich”? In this journal case study, students examine published research on the use of trees to search for, and to perhaps find, buried gold. The case focuses on Eucalyptus trees, the tallest of the flowering evergr...
By Susan Bandoni Muench
This case study introduces students to ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs), products that have revolutionized the treatment of undernourished children. Unlike previous therapeutic foods, fortified nut butter, as in this case, can be used to treat ...
By Sheri L. Boyce
This case study relates the story of “Hannah,” a 19-year-old runner struck by a deer during a cross country race. As a result of the collision, Hannah develops a pneumothorax that impairs her ability to breathe. Students follow her story as she i...
By Nora S. Green
Norovirus is one of the most common causes of infectious diarrhea and vomiting, leading to the nickname “winter vomiting disease.” The virus is estimated to be responsible for about half of all food-borne illnesses (CDC) due to its ability to spr...
By Merle K. Heidemann (rr), Mike S. Taylor, Amanda Storm, Cassie Dresser-Briggs, Alexa Warwick, Peter J.T. White
Students who work through this case study will follow the progress of “Sam” as he explores the microbiological mechanism of oral allergy syndrome, including an investigation of the lymphocytes and antibodies involved. Upon discovering the biologi...
By Ashley E. Rhodes, Timothy G. Rozell
This interrupted case study looks at heat stress through the eyes of “Nelly,” a chatty, country Holstein. Although focusing on dairy cattle, the case can be used to teach the physiology of body temperature regulation in any number of homeothermic...
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 M. May Zhang, Maria E. Latta
This case study follows the process of diagnosing a patient, 67-year-old “Chester Fitzgerald,” who has suffered an ischemic stroke. An ECG is performed, but is not conclusive. During a physical exam, his doctor discovers a splenomegaly and orders...
By Ann L. Parkinson, Nicole B. Reinke
This interrupted case study in renal physiology and water balance follows the story of "Lacy," a star athlete, who makes poor fluid intake choices for the duration of a track and field day. Lacy notices changes in the volume and appearance of her uri...
In Search of a Cure for Breast Cancer
By Jolanta Skalska
In this directed case study, students analyze data, draw a research-based conclusion, interpret experimental results, and discuss the relevance of research findings for clinical practice....
By Karen M. Aguirre
This historical case study is based upon events surrounding the deadly 1721 smallpox epidemic in Boston. It recounts the story of Cotton Mather, his slave Onesimus, and the physician Zabdiel Boylston. Urged by Mather, Dr. Boylston inoculated Bostonia...
Which Elephant Population Would You Protect?
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema
This case study has students analyze real population and climate data to address a problem in conservation. Many elephant populations exist in Africa, but if a conservation group had funding to supply a grant to just one population, which one should ...
By Arne K. Christensen, Joan-Beth Gow
This directed case study focuses on exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis (exRML). Students are guided though skeletal muscle cell membrane transport and calcium homeostasis. They are then asked to predict how depletion of ATP at the skeletal m...
The Case of the Two-Faced Data
By Rachel L. Rossetti
This case study on Simpson's paradox is a fictionalized account of a famous case of alleged gender discrimination at University of California at Berkeley. "Jane Eyre" was a young woman who applied to the top Ph.D. programs in English in the United St...
By Sheri L. Boyce
This directed case study tells the story of an 84-year-old man who has been brought to the ER for treatment of a badly broken wrist. Routine bloodwork reveals his calcium levels are abnormal, which prompts more tests. The results, together with his b...
By Julia M. Dais
This interrupted case study is based on the true experiences of the author's mother, who is referred to in the story as "Mrs. Horton" for reasons of privacy. Mrs. Horton, like many seniors, had her life altered due to age-related vision changes. As s...
By Jean Yockey
In this directed case study students follow a 16-year-old athlete as her mild upper respiratory infection progresses to an acute respiratory illness. In working through the case, students define select medical terms, interpret assessment data related...
By Kathleen A. Nolan
This case study examines the population dynamics of the horseshoe crab, which is sometimes described as a “living fossil.” Students are shown PowerPoint slides that are interspersed with clicker questions about the biology, life history strategie...
By Hollie L. Leavitt
This directed case study tells the story of a geriatric patient who has recently been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It begins with him informing his granddaughter, “Jillian,” of the diagnosis. Jillian is a nursing student who is a...
By Rebecca T. Garlinger, Patrick K. Mitrano-Towers, Kevin S. Innella, Philip J. Stephens
“Henry” is not the best of patients. He has been admitted into the hospital with bacterial pneumonia, but he soon becomes bored and frustrated by his rate of progress; are the prescribed intravenous antibiotics really doing anything? His solution...
Solving a Medical Mystery with Bioinformatics
By Kelly L. Brackett, Gareth R. Howell, Charles G. Wray, Sarah A. Wojiski
This computer-based case study guides students through publically available bioinformatics databases to solve a medical mystery. The case relates the real-life story of Dr. James Lupski, a renowned geneticist, who has a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Too...
By Anthony J. Creaco, David A. Krauss
Most students have witnessed the refraction of light when viewing a partially submerged object—a spoon in a glass of water appears to bend—but they have little understanding of the phenomenon. The purpose of this case study is to elucidate the un...
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...
By Susan A. Weiner
This case study in comparative physiology explores the connections between physiology, evolution and behavior. Students assume the role of researchers who have discovered the body of a rare and poorly studied (fictional) monkey, Callicebus imagini. S...
By Christine H. Terry, Erin J. Friedman
This interrupted case study was written to help students understand the interplay and relatedness of metabolism in producers and consumers. The storyline is based on a conversation between two students who are home from college for a long weekend. Wh...
The Canadian Canola Controversy
By Susan E. Gass, Danielle Scriven
This case study reviews a controversial court case that took place in Canada in 2002 concerning an allegation of patent infringement and a genetically modified (GM) canola crop. The multi-national company Monsanto, which produces GM canola seeds call...
A Shot in the Arm or a Hard Pill to Swallow?
By Dorothy P. Debbie
The immune response to a vaccine is influenced by the nature of the vaccine and the delivery method. In this interrupted case study, students traveling to a typhoid fever endemic area must decide which of two typhoid fever vaccine formulations would ...
A Tradesman’s Journey Back from a Cerebral Incident
By Diana Colgan, Wajid Mirza, Laura Y. Lorentzen, Kristie Reilly
This directed case study tells the story of a middle-aged man with hypertension and hyperlipidemia who experiences an ischemic cerebrovascular accident. The case provides an opportunity for students to integrate the brain's functional anatomy related...
By Parks Collins, Jason Macrander
This interrupted case study tells the true story of Karl P. Schmidt, a herpetologist and museum curator who was bitten by a venomous snake in 1957. Like a true scientist, Schmidt recorded notes about his symptoms until the very end when he died. Stud...
Peppered Moths and the Industrial Revolution
By Avril M. Harder, Janna R. Willoughby, Jaqueline M. Doyle
This interrupted case study was written for students to gain a better understanding of evolutionary concepts and principles as they develop their skills in hypothesis creation, experimental design, and critical analysis of experimental assumptions. T...
By Jun Liang
This case study was developed for teaching metric length measurement in a non-majors biology laboratory setting. The case is suitable for lower-level non-major undergraduate or upper-level high school students. The case develops comprehension of the ...