98th ESA Annual Meeting (August 4 -- 9, 2013)

August 03 - 09, 2013

WK 26

Teaching Ecology Using Case Studies

In many science courses, concepts are often taught as separated items. As a result, students have difficulties connecting concepts, applying concepts and seeing the big picture. In this workshop, we will demonstrate how you can use case studies to assist students in making those connections. We will discuss what makes a good case study, the benefits of using them in the classroom, how to design them, how to effectively use them and available resources. Our goal is to create a network of instructors who use or are interested in using case studies when teaching ecology. The network will allow instructors to share case studies and give each other feedback. Participants in this workshop are asked to bring their case studies or ideas to share and discuss. When using case studies, students often work in groups to answer a set of questions culminating with a larger problem where students have to make connections, draw conclusions, make decisions and give recommendations based on the data given. Students practice critical thinking, collaborating with peers, applying concepts to real-life situations, and transferring knowledge from one situation to another. These are some of the most important goals of many courses, but it is difficult to achieve with a teacher-centered style that is heavily focused on lecturing.