Case It! – A Project To Integrate Collaborative Case-based Learning Into International Undergraduate Biology Curricula Mark Bergland, Karen Klyczek, Kim Mogen, Mary Lundeberg and Douglas Johnson University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Contact information URL for Case It! Home Page: address: Vol 5 of BioQUEST Library CD-ROM

Case It! Overview Electronic framework for analyzing and discussing case studies in molecular biology Human genetic diseases and associated ethical issues Pre-existing and student-designed cases Web-based “poster sessions” Interactions among high school and university students Pre-service science teachers as research assistants

Class-testing Students gather background information on cases using Case It! Investigator (v1.01) and web browser Analyze DNA sequences using Case It! Version 3.0/4.0 Prepare web-page poster using automated system Poster session via Internet conferencing Role-playing (family members and genetics counselors) Mentoring of high school students by university students

Techniques for DNA analysis Features of Case It! Version 3.0 DNA electrophoresis Restriction enzyme digestion and mapping Southern blotting New features of Case It! Version 4.0 Dot blotting Polymerase Chain Reaction More efficient file management via new floating windows Exports photos in GIF format rather than JPEG format – smaller files and no compression problems Makes possible more complex cases such as Jefferson-Hemings case

Jefferson –Hemings Case “In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson was accused of having fathered a child, Tom, by Sally Hemings. Tom was said to have been born in 1790, soon after Jefferson and Sally Hemings returned from France. Present-day members of the African-American Woodson family believe that Thomas Jefferson was indeed the father of Thomas Woodson, whose name comes from his later owner. No known documents support this view.” (Foster et. al., Nature 396:27-28 (1998)

Jefferson –Hemings Case “Sally Hemings had at least 4 more children. Her last son, Eston (born in 1808), is said to have borne a striking resemblance to Thomas Jefferson, and entered white society in Madison, Wisconsin, as Eston Hemings Jefferson.”

Jefferson –Hemings Case “Although Eston’s descendants believe that Thomas Jefferson was Eston’s father, most Jefferson scholars give more credence to the oral tradition of the descendants of Martha Jefferson Randolph, the president’s daughter. They believe that Sally Hemings’ later children, including Eston, were fathered by either Samuel or Peter Carr, sons of Jefferson’s sister, which would explain their resemblance to the president.”

Sample case: Huntington’s Disease Susan is a 23-year-old whose father, age 55, and paternal aunt, age 61, have been diagnosed with Huntington’s chorea. A paternal uncle, age 66, appears to be unaffected by the disease. Susan wants to know if she inherited the mutated gene from her father so that she can prepare for that future if necessary. She arranges to undergo DNA testing for Huntington’s. Her 17-year old brother, John, also decides to be tested after talking with Susan.

Ethical issues raised by the case Should someone with a family history of HD be required to undergo testing? Should they have children if they test positive, or if they have not been tested? Should someone as young as John be tested? Should the results of such tests be made available to insurance companies? to potential employers? to potential mates?

Class testing Biology freshmen nonscience majors Groups choose a case, run the tests, interpret the results, and consider the ethical issues raised Play role of genetic counselors in session with “family members” (faculty) Poster presentations: live and via Internet Peer review

Internet conferencing Student-generated web page posters accessed from Case It! home page Bulletin boards for peer review Comparisons: »Live versus web page poster sessions »Intra-school versus inter-school poster sessions »Intra-school versus inter-school collaborative teams

Assessment Collaboration with College of Education (Mary Lundeberg, Co-PI) Confidence testing/gender issues Pre-service teachers conduct tests and analysis Videotape computer work, surveys, exit interviews, Internet poster discussions

Results Preservice teachers benefited from active participation in research project Case-based simulation enhanced interest, especially for female students Students, particularly females, became more confident in their knowledge

Student quotes "Case It! was definitely effective in my learning and understanding of genetic testing. Not only effective, but also interesting. Having a particular case and defect to figure out drove the information home. Very good program for college biology students. " "I learned more [from this experience], than I have ever learned in any science class! Plus, there was an actual end result that we could be proud of. I definitely think this helped and you should keep it going."

Student quotes "By doing independent team research outside of class you learn valuable research skills as well as interpersonal skills when working with others. I enjoyed being able to learn (in depth) about the disease. I was also glad we had a choice in what disease we could pick. I think adding more diseases to the Case It software would be good! I thought it was a non- threatening way to learn and was fun." "It seemed more real life than any other assignments, it actually relates, it’s a real disease and we were using real life like genetics and had real life like questions to answer.”