Please Note: Registration is closed. Although the workshop is filled, we are taking names for a waiting list. To be placed on the waiting list, email Carolyn Wright at nccsts@buffalo.edu

Welcome to this summer’s Case Studies in Science Workshop, the focus of which is to train science faculty to teach with cases, to write their own cases, and to assess their students’ learning with cases. The purpose of this page is to help you prepare for the workshop. We hope that these FAQ’s provide you with the answers to most of your questions. For further information, please contact our workshop coordinator Carolyn Wright at nccsts@buffalo.edu or 716-645-2363 x111.

DATES, LOCATION, COSTS, AND LODGING

Dates & Location

The 2008 Case Studies in Science Summer Workshop will be held May 19–23, 2008.

The workshop will take place in 120 Clemens Hall on the North (aka Amherst) Campus of the University at Buffalo, State University of New York (for a map of the North Campus and the location of Clemens Hall, see http://www.buffalo.edu/buildings/pdf-page.html; directions are available at http://www.buffalo.edu/directions/).

Workshop Costs

This summer the workshop will cost $600, which includes all workshop sessions, materials, computer access, and meals (beginning with breakfast Monday morning through Friday lunch).

Lodging

In addition to travel expenses, participants are also responsible for making their own loding reservations and payment. You may choose to either stay on campus in the dormitories (a reservation link will be posted soon; rates are adult single=$35/bed/night or adult double=$29/bed/night) or at a nearby hotel. We have made special arrangements with the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center for a limited number of discounted rooms at $68/night/double-bedded queen room. In order to receive the discounted rate, you need to contact the Ramada at 716-636-7500 and identify yourself as part of the UB Case Study Workshop. For additional hotels located close to campus, go to http://www.hotelsanddeals.com/suny_buffalo.html. Of those listed (aside from the Ramada, which is the most conveniently located to the workshop), the Marriot Buffalo on Millersport Highway, the Red Roof Inn on Flint Road, and the Comfort Inn on Flint Road are closest to campus.

REGISTRATION PROCESS

You must register to attend the workshop. Registration is open until the workshop is filled (limit 40 people).

Receipt of your application will be acknowledged within 48 hours by email. If you do not hear from us within that time frame, please contact Carolyn Wright at nccsts@buffalo.edu, or 716-645-2363 x111.

Payment options are specified on the registration form, which will be available online starting January 9, 2008, at 9 a.m.

SCHEDULE

The workshop is a full five days, beginning on Monday at 8 a.m. and ending on Friday at approximately 3:30 to 4 p.m. For a more detailed breakdown of each day’s activities for the workshop, see our online Workshop Schedule. Please note that in the afternoons of each day you will have time to work on writing and researching your cases-work that most groups continue in the evenings after dinner in order to complete their cases by the end of the week.

The first day of the workshop is an overview of the case study method—its history and rationale—and a demonstration (which workshop attendees participate in) of the classical discussion method of case teaching used by business and law schools. This is followed by an analysis of classroom teaching techniques and finishes with an overview of the principles on which case studies are constructed. Workshop participants then break into small groups based on common interests to begin the work of drafting their own case studies.

The second day demonstrates how case study teaching can be integrated with a revolutionary teaching approach called "Team Learning." Pioneered by Larry Michaelsen of the University of Oklahoma, this method is a combination of Cooperative Learning and Mastery Learning. Students work in permanent small groups. They receive no formal lecturing but work on problems throughout the semester, with individual and group tests; project work forms the basis of their grades. At the end of the second day, participants again work together in their case writing groups.

The third day provides an opportunity for participants to hear from experienced teachers who have tried different case study methods in different disciplines. In this way, "newcomers" to the method can see how readily the technique can be adapted to any curriculum or teaching style, ranging from lecture to discussion to small group methods. Again, in the afternoon, the workshop participants work in their groups on case study design and development.

During the fourth and fifth days of the workshop, the participants teach a case in front of a group of students hired for that purpose (for more information, see Practice Teaching Sessions below).

PRACTICE TEACHING SESSIONS

The final two days of the workshop each participant teaches a case study in front of other workshop faculty and to students we hire specifically for these teaching sessions. The idea is to provide you with a supportive environment to try out something new in your teaching. Past workshop participants have noted that the student participation and feedback from these sessions and the opportunity to observe their colleagues teach and have colleagues observe and comment on their teaching aree some of the most useful aspects of the workshop.

We will have approximately 50 to 60 undergraduate students signed up to participate in these sessions. Many, but not all, of them will have science backgrounds. The students’ role is to read, listen to, and participate in the cases—by engaging in discussion, working in small groups on related activities, role-playing, etc.—like ordinary students. After the session, the students evaluate the case and the teaching style and techniques of the instructors.

You can choose to teach alone or pair up with someone else at the workshop and team-teach your case or teach as part of a group, although we ask that these groups not exceed three people. You should plan on having 50 minutes to teach your case.

The first day of the practice teaching sessions, on Thursday, we will all start out together in a large classroom that can hold all of the students and all of the workshop faculty. Someone each year has volunteered to teach first and we use this session to acquaint everyone with the process. This first “kick-off” session will be facilitated by our workshop leader Kipp Herreid.

After the first session, we will split up into three to four classrooms, with about 15 students per classroom. We will have a printed schedule which will list the instructors, the classrooms, and the case topics. When not teaching, workshop faculty observe their peers and provide them with feedback, choosing for themselves which case study practice teaching session to attend.

There will be a facilitator in each classroom. These people are experienced case study teachers who have gone through our workshop in the past. The facilitator’s job is to introduce you and your case to the students and then turn the classroom over to you. After you have finished teaching, the facilitator will distribute a set of evaluation forms to the students for them to complete and will then collect and turn these directly over to you. The facilitator will then lead the students in a discussion about the case and your teaching.

The classrooms are fairly standard. They all have overhead projectors, blackboards, a desk, and seats that can be moved for small group work, if desired. We can provide you with flipcharts and paper, markers, overhead transparency pens, etc., as well as make copies of any handouts or transparencies you need to teach your case.

We can also arrange for a “technology-enabled” classroom. If you need access to a computer to teach your case study, let us know at the workshop as soon as possible and we will arrange for such a classroom for your use.

So that you can prepare handouts and other materials for your session, we will be arranging for you to have a guest computer account during the workshop, allowing you to access computers on campus to do research and develop materials for your case study teaching session. Past participants who have brought laptops with them have found them to be very useful.

ADVANCE PREPARATION

We will be sending you the URLs for some background reading as it gets closer to the dates of the workshop. In addition, you will have an "assignment" for the first day of the workshop to read a case study. Similarly, we will send you the URL for the case via email so that you can read it online before the workshop. We will be running the case early Monday morning with the workshop participants playing the role of students.

You may want to begin researching a topic you are interested in teaching before you get here and bring your research materials with you. While you will have time in the afternoons and evenings to prepare for your practice teaching session, some advance work is recommended.

COMPUTER USE

Guest Accounts

Guest computer accounts are being set up for you so that you will have your own username and password to log on to the University’s network from machines in computer labs, libraries, and the dorms. We will be giving you a handout Monday morning with the locations and hours of operation of the various computer labs you can use as well as your guest computer account information. We will be reserving a computer lab located near our main meeting site in Clemens as well as a computer lab with extended evening hours in the dorm for your particular use.

Please note that the University at Buffalo is a PC-based campus; there are no Macs in our campus computer labs.

The computers in the libraries and labs are equipped with a variety of software, including Internet applications and web browsers, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. You will be able to print from the campus computers. We urge you not to save your work on a network drive because it may not be there when you go to access it later. We have had problems in the past with participants’ work being deleted overnight. Save your work instead to a floppy disk or flash drive. We will have a supply of PC-formatted disks on hand for your use.

Documentation to look at in advance, especially if you are planning on bringing your own laptop to the workshop, includes Conference Computing for Windows XP or Conference Computing for Mac.

E-mail

You may be able to check your e-mail from the campus workstations. If you want to check your e-mail while you are here, please check with your institution’s systems department (or whoever handles your e-mail) to find out how to access your e-mail remotely. You will need to know the host name of your institution’s mail server and your username and password. You may also need to know the address of your outgoing mail server and your incoming mail server. The systems department at your institution or your Internet Service Provider should be able to give you that information.

Internet Access

You should be able to connect to the Internet from your laptop using your guest computer account while here on campus, including from the dorms, though some people have had probloems with this in the past. If you are planning on bringing your laptop, we have been advised by Campus Computing to advise you to read and print out the following documentation in advance:

• NetPass: http://wings.buffalo.edu/computing/Documentation/gen/UBNetPass.html
• For Mac users: http://wings.buffalo.edu/computing/Documentation/mac/conferencemac.html
• For Windows XP users: http://wings.buffalo.edu/computing/Documentation/win/conferencexp.html

For more information about campus Internet access, visit http://www.cit.buffalo.edu/internet/. If you have questions, you can also contact (before you arrive or any time while you are here) the Campus Computing Help Desk at: 716-645-3542, cit-helpdesk@buffalo.edu or http://helpdesk.buffalo.edu/.

Note: Even if your laptop does not meet the requirements for Internet access, we encourage you to bring it along to work on developing handouts and other materials for your practice teaching session.

GETTING AROUND

Directions to Campus

For detailed directions to campus from various points via different modes of travel (by car, plane, bus, and train), you can use our university’s interactive web site available at: http://www.buffalo.edu/directions/. A map of the North Campus (better known by cab drivers and hotel staff as the “Amherst Campus”) is available online at http://www.buffalo.edu/scripts/directions/NorthCampus.pdf.

Getting to the University from the Airport

You can take a cab in from the airport; the fare should be about $25 to $30 and the trip should take approximatetly 20 to 25 minutes. There should be cabs at the curb at the airport, or you may call Airport Taxi to send one. Their toll-free number is 1-800-551-9369. If you have cosen to stay at a hotel at your own expense instead of on-campus in the dorms at ours, many of the hotels near the campus run a shuttle to and from the airport. For more information about airport services including car rental, a map that shows where to catch a taxi, and telephone locations, visit the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport’s website.

What to do in Buffalo

There is a lot to see and do in Buffalo before and after the workshop. We encourage you to visit Niagara Falls. Please visit our website About Buffalo: Things to Do, Places to See for highlights, including information on the Falls.

WEATHER & ATTIRE

Buffalo in early summer is generally quite pleasant, with cool lake breezes that keep temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Rain is likely. To keep an eye on the forecast as your departure date approaches, visit your favorite weather website.

We dress for comfort for the workshop. For some of you, that might mean informal, but others may like to dress more formally. We encourage you to wear the clothing you will feel most comfortable in. Be sure to pack your rain gear and some comfortable shoes, as your schedule may include a fair amount of walking. A jacket isn’t a bad idea either.