Classroom Assessment Model suggest the use of case study scenarios. These scenarios may be print or video based, and can be developed by teachers, created by students, derived from recommended learning resources, collected from news media, or found online.
LESSON LINKS
- Case Study of a Public Policy Campaign
- How Federal and Provincial Governments are Formed
- The Constitution and the Charter: Case Study Presentations
RESOURCES:
Student Guidelines for Case Discussion
Lesson using Case Studies: Comparing quality of life in developing and developed countries
Lesson: Respect for diversity (Inuit case study)
Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History: Doukhobors Make Good Canadians: Writing a Letter of Support for the Doukhobors
Why Use the Case Study Approach?
The most effective way for learning to take place is to actually be in real situations, make decisions, deal with the consequences of those decisions, and learn from our real mistakes. Nothing will ever replace learning from experience. Cases (which involve real situations although names may be changed) allow us to "simulate" real life situations when we don't have the luxury of having years of experience. Cases allow us (to some degree) to live with real situations, make decisions, and feel the consequences. Like scientists in a laboratory, students use case problems and experiential exercises as "laboratory" opportunities to experiment with real problems in a classroom setting.
The case method is based on the learning principle that learning occurs most when people teach themselves, through their own struggles. Student gain greater understanding and improved skills in judgment when they work through a problem rather than passively listening to a lecture.
Like real situations cases studies center around an array of partially-ordered, ambiguous, seemingly contradictory and reasonably unstructured facts, opinions, inferences and bits of information, data, and incidents. Students must provide order by selectively choosing which bits to use and which to ignore.
Case-based teaching is a flexible model.
If an instructor uses leading questions to direct students toward a moral or process he or she deems "correct," the model is not far removed from direct instruction. If the instructor, however, allows students to formulate their own opinions of a case by promoting group-coordinated research activities, debate, or simulated decision making, the model is more closely aligned with social constructivism. The key difference is the extent to which an instructor directly leads the student versus promoting activities through which students can lead themselves and develop valuable reasoning skill in the process.
photo: robbieb@morguefile
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