Introducing Students to Cases and
Information Literacy
How can You Use Case Studies and
PBL to Increase Information Literacy
in Microbiology Education
Pat Marsteller
ASMCUE
Englewood, CO, May 16-17, 2013
Agenda
Rules Cases
 Context and Facilitation
 Addressing Information Literacy
 Discussion and tools

Transformation
Strategize how quickly and how far to move from
A highly structured classroom
to…
a more student-centered
classroom
Ideal
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Students drive their own learning by:
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Asking their own questions
Strategizing how best to investigate
Create their own ways to demonstrate their
understanding
Reality
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Professors reluctant to give up control
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Fear that students won’t learn what is needed
Need to manage behavior
Perception that Cases are “not teaching”
Rules Cases

Who’s the Boss?
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The Class Rules
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“We’ll never finish on time – just let “But I did
all the work!” “That’s because you hogged it
all!” Students work as a class and in groups to
explore group dynamics, drawing on their own
expertise about what works and what doesn’t.
Student groups get together to research group
dynamics and become experts on what works
and what doesn’t in doing cases.
Sample from Who’s the Boss?
Four students gather around a table for a group lab. Major Works sits down
and starts reading the lab without waiting for his peers to get settled.
 Major Works (Demandingly) Alright, did anyone do the reading?”
The rest of the group members, Sam Wallflower, Carol Less and Maddie
Sidetrack sit down at the table. Sam Wallflower begins to open his mouth
while raising his hand, but is stopped by Major’s next comment.
Major
Works: “Well, since I’m the only one that did, I will assign our roles
for the lab. Carol, you can be the recorder. Of course, I will record as well, for
my own files.”
Carol Less slouches at her chair and answers simply with raised eyebrows.
Meanwhile, Maddie Sidetrack starts jamming out to her ipod.
Major:
“Maddie, since you’re so energetic, why don’t you go around
collecting the data. And you…”, looking at Sam, “What’s your name again?”
Sam:
(answers in what seems like a silent voice) “Sam.”
Assignment:
Come up with a list of group rules that you
think will make your group work effectively.
You may also consider penalties for
infractions.
What roles might be most effective so that
each person participates?
Should you assign roles?
Manager
 Public Relations & Communication
 Quality control
 Process Analyst
 Data Analyst
 Media consultant
 Recorder

Sample Role Description
Team Leader
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Develops questions and comments about the groups findings
Leads the group in their discussions about their findings
Leads the individual members in sharing their findings with each
other each day
Leads discussions in a way that allows group members to learn
from each other, the text, the experience etc.
During reading of the case this person:
 Fills in the Know and Need to Know columns
 Makes sure all other groups members are completing their assigned
tasks
 Leads the other group members in their sharing of their assigned
tasks
Group Roles (from POGIL)
Group Roles (from POGIL)
Group Roles (from POGIL)
Provide Context for New Information
Personal Experience
 What have you heard?
 Have you ever experienced…?
 Do you know anyone who…?
 Predict
 What do you think will happen?
 What might you do?

Coaching Students to Identify, Research, and
Discuss Your Learning Objectives

Discuss Learning Objectives
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Restate the problem and action plan
Follow logical flow of information
 Define terms/acronyms first, then key LIs
 Who researched something similar? What
can you add? How/where did you find that
info?
Challenge correct AND inaccurate statements

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How do you know that? What evidence supports
your claim? Confirmed by multiple sources?
Check for Understanding and Demand
Summary/Synthesis
Check for Understanding
Repetition, especially of new/fancy words
(viral load, neuromuscular)
 Differentiate scientific vs. common use
meaning of familiar terms
(model, theory, history, negative/positive,
drugs, adaptation, fitness)
 Recall
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What did we say about…?
Complete your sentence
Address Behavioral Problems

Overachiever/Disruptive Student
 Assign an active task (e.g., record
notes)
Deputize (e.g., make sure everyone
gets a chance to speak)
 Quiet/Disengaged Student
 Address by name
 Invite specific contribution
 Use a person-centered question

Demand summary and synthesis
Who can summarize what we just
learned?
 How does that relate to what we talked
about earlier?
 What did we learn from that student’s
research? What was
interesting/surprising?
 Do we have consensus? Let’s review our
different ideas and evaluate which ones
are still valid.

More Facilitation Resources

Emory (cases & resources)
 www.cse.emory.edu/prism/resources
 www.cse.emory.edu/prism/learningissues.cfm
 PBL Facilitation Guide

Buffalo (cases & articles)
 http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu
 Don’t: What Not To Do when Teaching Cases (Herreid,
2001)

Delaware (cases & videos)
 www.udel.edu/inst
 www.udel.edu/inst/resources/groups-in-action.html

Nat’l Institute for Science Education: Collaborative Learning
 http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/CL/default.asp
Not Enough Time!
stopwatch or timer
 Question bank

Too Much Time!
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Self/Group evaluation
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What did we do well? How can we improve?
Minute paper or Think,Pair, Share
–
–
–
–
Affected you most
New information?
Busted myth?
Most interesting?
INFORMATION LITERACY
“the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use
information.”
- American Library Association
Information Literacy Principles
from National Forum on Information Literacy, infolit.org
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Define: Articulate a need for information as one or more relevant,
focused, and manageable questions. Know where to locate and
gain understanding of acceptable, common definitions of terms
associated with the needed information.
Access: Search, find, and retrieve information from a variety of
print and electronic resources (e.g., databases, Internet).
Evaluate: Judge the currency, appropriateness, and adequacy of
information and information sources for a specific purpose.
Manage: Conduct a rudimentary and preliminary organization of
accessed information for retrieval and future application.
Integrate: Extract and combine information from a variety of
sources and draw fundamental conclusions.
Create: Summarize and adapt information to describe an event,
express an opinion, or support a basic argument, viewpoint, or
position.
Communicate: Adapt and present information for a peer
audience.
President Approved!
“Every day, we are inundated
with vast amounts of
information. A 24-hour news
cycle and thousands of global
television and radio networks,
coupled with an immense array
of online resources, have
challenged our long-held
perceptions of information
management. Rather than
merely possessing data, we
must also learn the skills
necessary to acquire, collate,
and evaluate information for
any situation.”
President Barack H. Obama, proclaiming a National Information
Literacy Awareness Month, October 2009
Essential Web Research Skills
Search efficiently and effectively
 Distinguish kinds of sources, and analyze
a source’s validity and reliability
 Cross-check facts, even from reliable
sources
 Conscientiously and properly attribute the
words and ideas of others
 Cite sources accurately and appropriately

From Microsoft (2010). Search to Research: Developing Critical Thinking Through Web Research Skills.
Retrieved April 16, 2011 from http://www.microsoft.com/education/criticalthinking/
Microsoft’s curriculum
http://www.microsoft.com/education/criticalthinking/
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Mechanics of searching
Validity and reliability
Citing web sources
Civil discourse
Plagiarism
Google’s curriculum
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How can appropriate search terms and
queries guide targeted searches?
How and why do researchers evaluate
search results?
How can I narrow my search to get the
best results?
How and why do researchers evaluate
search results?
How do I evaluate and decide which
credible sources to use for a specific
task?
Plus, “A Google A Day” Challenges!
Your Library and your librarians
Research Guides
 Pub med
 Electronic databases
 Citation styles
 And many more services that students
often forget about

Understanding Science Resources
http://undsci.berkeley.edu/
 http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/sciencef
lowchart
 http://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/1316
_activities.php

Hobbit Learning Issue Research
Upon finishing the first day of the case, each member of the group will
commit to researching a number of learning issues. It’s very important that
each group member do his/her best work researching the issues so that the
whole group will master all the learning issues it has identified. For each of
your issues, please prepare a report including:
1.
A description of the issue. What are you trying to learn?
2.
A thorough list of the resources you used while researching your
issue ( > 3 resources). Please include a critical explanation of why you found
the resource to be trustworthy or not. For example, list several websites you
tried in order to understand the issue. For each website, explain why you
found it helpful or useless. Would you recommend the website to other
students for help in understanding the issue? Is the author of the
information you are reading qualified to make such statements? Remember
to give a critical explanation for each resource you use during your research
of the issue.
3.
A concluding paragraph that will fully explain the issue to others
who didn’t do the research but who want to learn about the issue. It is your
job to teach the others in your group what you learned by doing your
research. If you find conflicting evidence, describe how you determined
which resource to trust.
Wild about Chocolate?
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What’s so special about chocolate? Is it good for you? Are
there benefits of all kinds of chocolate? How do scientific
experiments help us answer the question of whether we
should go wild for chocolate?
List the elements of a good experiment
Identify the various components within an experiment
Describe the steps in the scientific method
Synthesize hypotheses for future study
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From Cases OnLine
Maybe Vampires Don’t Suck?
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Learning Objectives:
Define both science and pseudoscience and be able to
differentiate between the two.
Become familiar with reputable information resources and
know how to use them.
Know how to evaluate whether an information resource is
reputable.
Become familiar with APA style basics.
Understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
Become familiar with important psychological concepts like
ADHD and NIMH

From Cases OnLine
Information Literacy Resources
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http://infolit.org
http://www.microsoft.com/education/criticalthink
ing/
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheduc
ation/lessons.html
Explore and Join Science Case Net
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at http://sciencecasenet.org
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Sign up for or create groups
Find case studies and PBL problems
Find collaborators
Learn about teaching with cases
Learn about research on case based learning
Thank You!