Lifelong Learning Programme

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Teachers’ Guide

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TEACHING SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS THROUGH PROBLEM BASED AND REAL LIFE CASE SCENARIOS

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Chapter 4: Case study method
4.2. Case study method effectiveness in science teaching
According to Freeman Herreid, Schiller and Herreid (2012), the case study method is especially useful in teaching STEM subjects because it allows students to understand what science is and how scientific knowledge is constructed. The authors distinguish several advantages of the case study method while teaching STEM subjects:
  1. At school students conceive what science is and how scientific knowledge is constructed. When classical research methods are applied, students learn to formulate questions, turn them into hypotheses, carry out research and experiments, process data and formulate conclusions based on the findings. Nonetheless, most students do not understand why they need it. As a result, students are not interested in STEM subjects. When the case study method is applied, students apply a scientific method in the context of the real world.
  2. A case is given not like a task, scheme or formulas, but as a story. Students like stories. All famous wise men of the world have delivered their teaching as a story, because it is memorisable, has a context, encourages imagination and thinking.
  3. A case is presented as an extract from the real life. Students take it with a presumption that it really happened, it is real and real people are participants of a given situation. A presumption is formulated for students that science helped to solve problems of some group of people. This helps to consolidate the importance of science and increases motivation to go deeper into scientific subjects.
  4. When the case study method is applied, the essential skills of STEM subjects are developed. Students not only get knowledge but learn how to think.

Online Resources “Understanding Science: How Science Really Works” is one of the portals that gives access to the resources for teachers and encourages to apply case studies, contextualize science, relate it with the real life of students, real local and global problems. Traditionally, the basis of the case study method is a text that tells a story. The majority of resources available for teachers are provided in the form of texts. For instance, National Centre for Case Study Teaching in Science provides access to a rich library of resources, yet the resources are given in a traditional format without making benefit of e-learning possibilities.

Students prefer cases presented in a video format. Video material grasps more details, enables to employ one’s imagination, to better understand the case itself and make sure that the given information is authentic information about the real world. The products created during the project displayed on the YouTube channel illustrate various aspects of applying the case study method in teaching STEM subjects.
Online Resources

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