The intellectual merits of this project are the case studies explicitly designed for use in large non-majors introductory biology courses bring written, implemented and tested in selected sections of a course (approximately 1600 students/year) at the University of Mississippi. The effectiveness of using a case study approach for this population of students is being determined by comparing student performance and satisfaction using paired sections of the course; one of the pair taught by the lecture method and the other using the case study approach. Factors being measured include student: 1) factual knowledge levels; 2) ability to assimilate and apply the learned information; 3) conceptual understanding; 4) satisfaction with the course; and 5) attendance in the class. Identical test questions are embedded in all sections, both those using case studies and those using lectures. In addition workshops are providing faculty the training needed to implement this pedagogical technique, new to many of them.
The broader impacts of this proposal include: 1) improvement of a core curriculum course; 2) formation of an entire case study syllabus for non-majors' biology class made available to other institutions; and 3) the number of faculty whose teaching approach is being impacted by the workshops (faculty at UM and at neighboring academic institutions).
