Interactive Case Studies: Critical Thinking in Real Time

Interactive case studies allow students to practice critical thinking skills as they play the role of scientist to solve real world problems. This is not only engaging it is crucial for students to understand their role in the world, that there are many real world issues that they will be facing within their life-times and that they can help solve them. It also puts students in the drivers seats on the race course of relevant, current, real world scenarios, a track they themselves have control over. They can steer towards the problem and attempt to solve it  or venture away from it but by doing this can cause more problems. This puts real world events into perspective. Critical thinking and self-awareness are key to a true learning experience and with interactive case studies these are both addressed.

NSF, The National Science Foundation, has created a program called the National Center for Case
Study Teaching in Science where they have compiled case studies for all age levels. These case studies funded and researched by the National Institution of Health, have been written for student engagement by creating scenarios where students can problem-solve and work their way through critical thinking tasks in real time which are then sent to the teacher for evaluation. These case studies are not completed in a day or even a week but can last throughout the year. This can be set up to be an enrichment project that students can progress in when they have time rather than a requirement an adventure.

http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/  Has a data base of hundreds of cases to choose from based around just about every science topic imaginable. Could they be used in other subject areas? Just take a look at the catalogue, I believe they can. Case studies because they are real-life stories are intriguing to students. They are relevant enough to keep their curiosity but also interesting and challenging enough to keep them motivated to continue in the research and data collection. In the end after solving the case study, they are proud because having taken most of the year, it is a rewarding to close the case. To discover that they are truly scientists and can make a difference.