A WORKSHOP: USING CASE STUDIES IN THE CLASSROOM

TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH CASE STUDIES:

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

Clyde Freeman Herreid, Distinguished Teaching Professor,

Director of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science,

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Case study teaching is a recent innovation in basic science classrooms. Techniques of instruction within this genre vary enormously but their impact on student learning has not been well evaluated. Nor has the case study method in business and law been seriously evaluated even though the method has been in use for a hundred years. Nonetheless, the few studies that have been designed indicate that the method is highly successful. I will summarize the data from the literature, present our results from a survey of 150 case teachers, and outline our plans for and assessment program that is supported by a National Science Grant.