I recently used the case study "Memory Loss in Mice" for one of my courses and thought that you might be interested in some evaluation and feedback on how I used the case.

I am currently teaching an upper level undergraduate biology course entitled "Molecular Basis of Disease."  The course is being taught over simultaneous videoteleconferencing between Shaw University in Raleigh, NC and UNC—Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC.  The distance education studios are equipped with VTC equipment and SMARTBoards connected through Netmeeting.  We have 4 students at Shaw and 18 students at UNC enrolled in the course.  I am the instructor at Shaw University and my collegue Dr. Jory Weintraub is the instructor at UNC.  We each lead discussions on various topics looking at the molecular mechanisms of disease and we have included one session on Research Methods and Animal Models.  To introduce this topic, I used your case to get students thinking about how to interpret scientific data, draw conclusions, and describe how animals are used in biomedical research.  This simple case provided much discussion and interaction between students at both sites.  Although I happened to use it in an upper level undergraduate course, it certainly could be used in either undergrad or grad level courses.  Thank you for providing a great case for our course!

I am currently implementing other cases from the Buffalo Case Study site as well as writing my own that I can hopefully share with others at the Buffalo site.

Comments submitted 01/27/2003 by:

Brian J. Rybarczyk, Ph.D.
SPIRE Postdoctoral Fellow/Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill/Shaw University
CB#3280, Coker Hall
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7295
brian_rybarczyk@med.unc.edu