ST 660

Special Session on ICBL

Margaret Waterman

Southeast Missouri State University

Ethel Stanley

Beloit College

Investigative Cases:Engaging Students in

Scientific Problem Solving

Year Male Female

1911 50.9 54.4

1912 51.5 55.9

1913 50.3 55

1914 52 56.8

1915 52.5 56.8

1916 49.6 54.3

1917 48.4 54

1918 36.6 42.2

1919 53.5 560

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"I read on the Internet that you can get Mad Cow Disease from Altoids."

The Rumor

"Well, they are made in Great Britain and they do have gelatin in them.”

What do you think this case is about?

What do you already know that relates to this case?

What do you need to know to understand the case?

How do think this case could be used?

Challenges for Science Instruction: NSF

1. Include inquiry so students understand the process of science.

2. Relate science to what students already know.

3. Put science in social and technological perspective.

4. Encourage collaboration and student responsibility for learning.

Cases are one tool to answer these challenges

Case Methods: Elements in Common

All use realistically complex problems

All are multidisciplinary

All ask learners to consider the events, decisions, facts

Case Methods provide learners with an opportunity to:

• Engage with characters and circumstances.

• Investigate to understand facts, values, contexts, and decisions.

• Connect the meaning of the story to their own lives

Some Core Features of PBL /ICBL

Problems are real and meaningful contexts for learners.

PBL cases are complex and multidisciplinary. The problem comes first. Learners collaborate and identify what they need

to learn. Learners identify and use resources. Problems require decision making, use of

concepts and skills.

Investigative Case Based Learning

ICBL blends two established methods: cases and scientific inquiry The cases provide a context for learning. Students engage in investigations related to the case.

This includes lab, field, and computer activities.

Instruction is organized around the BioQUEST 3Ps.

The BioQUEST 3Ps

The BioQUEST philosophy is based on the activities of practicing scientists.

Problem posing Problem solving Peer persuasion

http://bioquest.org

Key Questions for Planning to Teach with a Case

What is something related to the case that students could investigate?

What resource might be useful in a student investigation ?

What kinds of products could students produce related to this case?

What learning objectives can be addressed?

Meet Diverse Objectives by varying PBL implementation:

To assess knowledge and skills To initiate investigations To introduce new technologies To develop global and multicultural perspectives To see value of interdisciplinarity

"I read on the Internet that you can get Mad Cow Disease from breath mints.”

The Rumor

Using PBL: Pre- Assessment

Using PBL: Assessment

Resources for each student: prepared slide of suspect plant material list of back yard plants by gardener

The following take home exam was based on a mini case in which a 14 week-old puppy that “chews on everything” was found ill in the back yard.

Using PBL: Assessment

Submit a memo reporting your findings as a forensics specialist:

Provide an identification of the plant material with evidence to support choices:

root, stem, or leaf dicot or monocot herbaceous or woody

Using PBL: Assessment

:

Write a short letter to the pet owner advising the family to remove the poisonous plant from their back yard:

Provide a description of the plant as it would look during flowering and be sure to include:

• common and scientific name• habitat preference• danger to humans

To assess knowledge and skills To initiate investigations To introduce new technologies To develop global and multicultural perspectives To see value of interdisciplinarity

Meet Diverse Objectives by varying PBL Implementation:

New York 99  

Ben called his old friend Lynn after hearing the latest count of people sick with West Nile Virus.

"Hey Lynn, you work in environmental health. What can you tell me about this West Nile Virus? We have a real epidemic going on here in Texas and everyone is saying it came from your state."

Lynn groaned "I am so sick of New York being blamed! West Nile Virus has been around a lot longer, and it is called West Nile for a reason,” she huffed. “It is true that the first U.S. virus was detected in 1999 in a dead flamingo and a sick horse in New York City. But now it's all over the US. "

"It sure is - but, wait - a bird and a horse? I don't get it."  

Using PBL: Investigations and Technologies

End of 2003

Clinical course of West Nile encephalitis

Solomon, T., Brit. Med. J. 326, 865-869 (2003)

“It’s called West Nile for a reason. . .”

Data set from http://bioquest.org/bedrock/problem_spaces/wnv/data.php

 

The Biology WorkBench is a web-based resource for analyzing and visualizing molecular data developed at NCSA (the National Center for Supercomputing Applications). Database searching is integrated with access to a wide variety of analysis and modeling tools

http://workbench.sdsc.edu

Aligned Sequences of WNV E Gene

Approximate global distribution of West Nile virus

Solomon, T., Brit. Med. J. 326, 865-869 (2003)

Using Cases: Lab Technology

http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/lucre1.html

FILTHY LUCRE:A Case Study Involving the Chemical Detection of Cocaine-Contaminated Currency

Ed AchesonDepartment of ChemistryMillikin University, Decatur, IL

Using Cases: Lab Technology

Tom Brown [was daydreaming while standing in the security line at the airport.] He was in a particularly good mood because Grandma Brown had given him $200 in cash as a Christmas present ... Tom had tucked the cash into his carry-on.

"Sir?” repeated a loud voice. “We have detected evidence of illegal drugs and will need to search your carry-on.”

Using Cases: Lab Technology

Tom’s cash ($200 in ones) will be treated with methanol to extract any cocaine present in the money. The extract will then be injected into the gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer (GC/MS), which will determine if any cocaine is present.

Using Cases: Lab Technology

•Roll the bill and place it into a clean vial.

•Add 2 mL of methanol to the vial.

•Cap the vial and shake for 1 minute.

•Using a glass Pasteur pipette, transfer enough methanol to an autosampler vial to fill the vial about three-quarters full.

•Remove the bill from the vial when you are finished using a forceps.

Meet Diverse Objectives by varying PBL Implementation:

To assess knowledge and skills To initiate investigations To introduce new technologies To develop global and multicultural perspectives To value interdisciplinarity

In the 1840’s, Late Blight devastated the potato crop which resulted in mass starvation and forced migration of the human population.

Using PBL: Multicultural & Interdisciplinary

Using PBL: Simulating Late Blight

http://www.bioquest.org/BQLibrary

Free software available at the link below. Click on “Modules” and then on “Lateblight”

Sporangia from cull pile

Infections from volunteers

Crop defoliated and entirely lost well before harvest

Simulation Results: IRELAND 1840’s

Cool, wet conditions, no pest management

% blight

sporangia

infections

Modern Management: Blight CastUsing 1840 conditions. Result of spraying every 5 days = $278 profit, no tuber loss, 3% foliage loss.

sprays sporangia

Meet Diverse Objectives by varying PBL Implementation:

To assess knowledge and skills To initiate investigations To introduce new technologies To develop global and multicultural perspectives To value interdisciplinarity

Footprints

“I’m glad I don’t live on a 200 acre farm like you, Sam!” teased Sue as the two friends hurried into their Biology class.

“Why?” asked Sam, “Weren’t you just complaining about living in your parent’s downtown condo?”

“Well, that’s true,” Sue admitted, “But I was thinking about today’s class assignment on sustainability. I bet you have the biggest footprint in the whole class.”

Much to Sue’s surprise, Sam didn’t look all that concerned. He held out his hand and replied confidently, “I’ll take that bet!”

What is this case about?

What do you already know?

What do you need to know?

Online Tools: a global resource used locally http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp

Questions from Footprint Quiz

Food: amount of meat, how much food is local

Goods: how much waste is produced Shelter: size of home, number of people,

availability of water and electricity Mobility: kinds of transportation, car

pooling, air time, fuel efficiency

The Results

Sue Sam

Go to Footprint quiz and find out your ecological footprint

http://www.earthday.net/footprint

What could you teach with this?

What kinds of resources might be useful?

http://pdf.wri.org/navigating_numbers.pdf World Resources Institute, 2005, Navigating the Numbers, pp. 4,5

Global Data and Visual Resource

Global Data Resource: One Policy for All?

http://pdf.wri.org/navigating_numbers.pdf Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy

Sources of GHG by Level of Economic Development

http://pdf.wri.org/navigating_numbers.pdf Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy

Global Data Resource: One Policy for All?

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/carbontracker/

Interactive Data Source

Visual Data

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/carbontracker/maps.php?type=glb&prod=columnsNOAA Carbon Tracker

T. BARTLEY:    . . you ain't old enough to rememberthe year the flu struck the people so bad in this . . . in this country, do you?    HAWKINS: Yeah, I think that both my… both my great-grandparents died in that.    T. BARTLEY:   It was the saddest lookin‘ time then that ever you saw in your life. My brother lived over there in the camps then and I was working over there and I was dropping cars onto the tipple. And that, that epidemic broke out and people went to dyin’ and there just four and five dyin‘ every night dyin’ right there in the camps, every night. And I began goin‘ over there, my brother and all his family took down with it, what’d they call it, the flu? Yeah, 1918 flu. And, uh, when I’d get over there I’d ride my horse and, and go over there in the evening and I’d stay with my brother about three hours and do what I could to help ’em. And every one of them was in the bed and sometimes Doctor Preston would come while I was there, he was the doctor. And he said “I’m a tryin‘ to save their lives but I’m afraid I’m not going to.”And they were so bad off. And, and every, nearly every porch, every porch that I’d look at had—would have a casket box a sittin’ on it. And men a diggin‘ graves just as hard as they could and the mines had to shut down there wasn’t a nary a man, there wasn’t a, there wasn’t a mine arunnin’ a lump of coal or runnin' no work. Stayed that away for about six weeks. .

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/107“There Wasn’t a Mine Runnin’ a Lump O’ Coal”: A Kentucky Coal Miner

Remembers the Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919

1.What is this case about?Flu of 1918 and its effects on coal mining, community

Know Wish to Know

There was a pandemic of flu in 1918.It killed many people.It interrupted work, mines closed.Some people lived in camps.It lasted about 6 weeks, according to the transcript.The doctor felt he couldn’t help people get better.Dealing with the dead was a huge issue.In 1918, World War I was ending.There were no vaccines then.Viruses were unknown.Influenza is caused by a virus.There’s a flu shot that you get every year.

Did soldiers/sailors bring the flu from elsewhere?Was there flu in other countries besides the US?How long did it last? What treatments were available then?What treatments were available now? How is flu spread?Why did so many people die of it?What made this particular flu so deadly?Do people die of flu today, like the annual flu? Have there been other epidemics of flu?Could it happen again?

Currently, 16 antigenically distinct groups of H molecules and 9 distinct groups of N molecules have been identified. The immune system responds specifically to each of the H and N surface proteins found in a virus particle. How many possible combinations of H and N could occur?

Human glycoprotein receptors (eyes, nose, upper throat) for H1, H2 and H3 influenza A facilitate transmission of these strains among humans. How many of the total influenza A combinations above would you expect to be easily transmissible to humans?

Content, directive

Interactive Maps

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/world/05/bird_flu_map/html/1.stm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12375868/from/ET/

http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/~andrew/1918/

Data

Year Male Female

1911 50.9 54.4

1912 51.5 55.9

1913 50.3 55

1914 52 56.8

1915 52.5 56.8

1916 49.6 54.3

1917 48.4 54

1918 36.6 42.2

1919 53.5 56

Average Age at Death from 1911 until 1919 (Noymer 2007)

Making Inferences

Age 1917 1918

<1 2944.5 4540.9

1--4 422.7 1436.2

5--14 47.9 352.7

15-24 78 1175.7

25-34 117.7 1998

35-44 193.2 1097.6

45-54 292.3 686.8

US Deaths per 100,000 Attributed to Influenza and Pneumonia in 1917 and 1918 (Noymer 2007)

Making Inferences, extended

Street car conductor in Seattle not allowing passengers aboard without a mask.

Record held at: National Archives at College Park, MD. 165-WW-269B-11

In 1918, Seattle public health officials required all passengers and employees mass transit systems wear masks. At that time no one knew what caused the influenza and vaccines were not available. It was understood that coughing and sneezing contributed to the spread of the disease. Spitting was also prohibited in many cities.

Mitigation Strategies

Predict generally what changes you’d expect to see in the SIR model results with respect to S, I, and R individuals if you were to simulate the use of masks. (Hint: Assume a 10% decrease in transmission.)

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Tools

Resources from Biological ESTEEM: Excel Simulations and Tools for Exploratory, Experiential Mathematics

http://bioquest.org

Modeling, scaffolded

Pharmacological Interventions• Vaccination• Antivirals as prophylactics

Nonpharmacologic interventions (NPIs) – efficacy and gaining compliance

• Community mitigation (school closures, restrictions on movements)

• Quarantine and isolation of healthy and sick individuals

• Travel restrictions locally and globally• Social distancing • Use of masks and increased hygiene

Simulation Results for Scenario 2 of Avian Influenza with 250 people (200 susceptible) and the use of masks with a 10% reduction in transmission.

Masks are used starting on day 30, when the epidemic has already nearly run its course.

What would happen if masks were used starting on day 10? How about on day 0?

Go to http://bioquest.org/casebook Click on “Unit 9”, then on “SIR model”

How would cases work in your teaching?

Warning!

Case in Use

Angela sighed as she held a copy of Derrick’s Malaise. “I’m supposed to come up with my own problems for study in this bio course?” she asked no one in particular.

She re-read the short case.

“What caused Derrick’s malaria?” Angela thought. The only thing Angela knew about malaria was that people got it when they lived in other countries.

Angela noticed other students going to the computers or leafing through books at the front of the room. She decided to go to a computer herself.

Using Google, she looked up malaria and found the Mosquito Bytes site.

http://whyfiles.org/016skeeter/malaria2.html

When the teacher walked by, he saw this on Angela’s screen.

Do you think Angela is a good student?

How could we help her?