Using Photographs as Case Studies to Promote Active Learning in Biology

Abstract

I f a picture is worth a thousand words, think about how long it takes your students to read a thousand words. Case studies are effective and stimulating ways to teach a variety of subjects, including the biological sciences. In learning the details of a particular case, students develop skills in both deductive and inductive reasoning, hypothesis forming, and developing tests for hypotheses, among others. Reading and developing case studies takes up a great deal of time, however, and this is not always practical in a class like introductory biology in which time is critical and large amounts of information must be covered. We present here the use of photographs as case studies for biology teaching—not as a substitute for regular lecture time, but as a supplement to it. The basic principle of using case studies in teaching sciences is to give students a single specific circumstance or example that allows them to deduce general principles. Such cases are often used prior to more traditional classroom techniques in order to make students understand the nature of the information and thought processes that they need to develop to fully understand the case at hand. Alternately, case studies may be presented after material has been discussed in class to help students understand why the material and thought processes they just learned are important to them personally. Whenever they are applied in the classroom setting, case studies usually involve the incorporation of video or text materials in the class, then engaging in lengthy class discussions to elicit responses indicative of insight and/or understanding from students. Case studies often take up a large amount of time, both in class for the instructor and out of class for the students. Reading long cases can be difficult and, in classes where there are already hundreds of pages of reading, may simply be too daunting to students. It might therefore seem odd to advocate for the use of case studies to supplement lectures rather than substitute for them, but especially in the case of introductory level classes, we have found that it is well worth the time when a photograph can be used as a case study. In upper-level classes, case studies are well worth the time they take, but in introductory classes students typically need to be given a large amount of information before they can begin to think about cases effectively or simply to satisfy state requirements or pass a standardized exam. Spending a few extra minutes under these conditions to use a photographic case study reinforces points, helps students internalize information, and gives students an image to associate with a concept aiding them in recall on exams.