Scholarship > Cases

I find case method teaching particularly compelling.  I have used support from the U.S. Department of Education's PT3 program to create web-based cases for middle school level students – with particular emphasis on integrating science, technology, and society issues. I developed three cases—two of which were field-tested with middle school students. The cases are: Lenny Learns His Lesson—And So Does Steve, Forces of Attraction, and The Mystery of the Killer Lake (password is "nyos"). In The Mystery of the Killer Lake , we extend the characters developed in the first case, Lenny Learns His Lesson – And So Does Steve by telling the true story of Lake Nyos in Cameroon through a series of email interactions between our two protagonists – Lenny and Steve. Teaching notes to aid teachers with implementation accompany each case and include a content introduction, online and offline resources, suggestions and links to cross-curricular extension activities, and model lesson plans. Additionally, activities within the teaching notes are mapped to national standards set forth by the science education professional community. The story of Lake Nyos as conveyed through The Mystery of the Killer Lake provides an opportunity for students to explore content within a more global context.

Publications and presentations related to cases and case-based teaching:

Sudzina, M.R. & Bronack, S.C. (2004, February). Enhancing professional practice through technology: optimizing teaching online with case studies. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Annual Meeting. Chicago, Illinois.

Greene, M.W., Bronack, S. C., Tashner, J.H., & Zimmerman, S.O. (2003, January). Using CaseNEX in teacher preparation programs: Grounding student learning for non-traditional preservice training. Hawaii International Conference on Education, Oahu, Hawaii.

Bronack, S.C., Greene, M.W., Zimmerman, S.O., & Tashner, J.H. (2003). Connecting theory to practice: Web-based cases in non-traditional preservice teacher preparation. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference, (2003),1 p. 2300-2303.

Bronack, S.C. (2002, March). Using web-based teaching cases to promote inquiry-based learning with students. European Council of International Schools Instructional Technology Conference. Brussels, Belgium.

Bronack, S.C. (2002, February). Using Web-based Teaching Cases to Promote Inquiry-based Learning. Rome International Schools Association Conference, Rome, Italy.

Bartlett, B. A., Resende, I. C., & Bronack, S. C. (2001, March). Lenny learns his lesson: Using cases to promote inquiry-based learning. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. Orlando, Florida.

Bronack, S.C., Kilbane, C. R., Herbert, J. M., & McNergney, R. F. (1999). Inservice and preservice teachers’ perceptions of a web-based, case-based learning environment. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 8(3) p. 305-320.

Bronack, S.C., & McNergney, R.F. (1999). Deriving professional knowledge from cases. In R. McNergney & C. Keller (Eds.), Images of mainstreaming: Educating students with disabilities. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 21-28.

Kilbane, C. R. & Bronack, S. C. (1999, February). The case for case-based teaching and learning on the world wide web. Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Houston, Texas.

Bronack, S. C. & Reed, D. (1998, May). CaseNET: A new way to add technology. Virginia Society for Technology in Education. Roanoke, Virginia.

Bronack, S. C. (1998). Analyzing multimedia cases: Teacher education in a Web-based environment. Charlottesville, VA: doctoral dissertation.

Bronack, S. C. & Kilbane, C. R. (1998). CaseNET: Teaching decisions via a Web-based learning environment. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference, (1998),1.

Bronack, S.C., & Riedl, R. E. (1998). Distributed learning environments: Pedagogy, implementation, and the early adopter. ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 98 World Conference on Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia & World Conference on Educational Telecommunications, Freiburg, Germany.