teaching case studies higher education

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Case studies.

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Case studies are stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible. Various disciplines have employed case studies, including humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, law, business, and medicine. Good cases generally have the following features: they tell a good story, are recent, include dialogue, create empathy with the main characters, are relevant to the reader, serve a teaching function, require a dilemma to be solved, and have generality.

Instructors can create their own cases or can find cases that already exist. The following are some things to keep in mind when creating a case:

• What do you want students to learn from the discussion of the case?
• What do they already know that applies to the case?
• What are the issues that may be raised in discussion?
• How will the case and discussion be introduced?
• What preparation is expected of students? (Do they need to read the case ahead of time? Do research? Write anything?)
• What directions do you need to provide students regarding what they are supposed to do and accomplish?
• Do you need to divide students into groups or will they discuss as the whole class?
• Are you going to use role-playing or facilitators or record keepers? If so, how?
• What are the opening questions?
• How much time is needed for students to discuss the case?
• What concepts are to be applied/extracted during the discussion?
• How will you evaluate students?

To find other cases that already exist, try the following websites:

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science , University of Buffalo. SUNY-Buffalo maintains this set of links to other case studies on the web in disciplines ranging from engineering and ethics to sociology and business
• A Journal of Teaching Cases in Public Administration and Public Policy , University of Washington

For more information:

• World Association for Case Method Research and Application

Book Review :  Teaching and the Case Method , 3rd ed., vols. 1 and 2, by Louis Barnes, C. Roland (Chris) Christensen, and Abby Hansen. Harvard Business School Press, 1994; 333 pp. (vol 1), 412 pp. (vol 2).

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Getting Started with Case Teaching

Key considerations as you begin your case teaching journey

Anyone can teach well with cases, as long as they are open to asking questions and trusting their students to participate and discuss. Here are some key considerations as you begin your case teaching journey.

Understand the Why

Cases have many benefits for students:

Case discussions are inherently relevant, which engages students more actively in their learning.

Students learn to apply course concepts in context; theories move from abstract to applicable.

Students develop valuable skills in speaking extemporaneously on topics, making connections, and doing analysis in real time.

These benefits apply at the undergraduate, MBA, specialized masters, doctoral, and executive education levels. Teaching with cases is a powerful way to “flip” your classroom, using your time with students to grapple with the application of content rather than purely transmitting the knowledge.

Consider Where Cases Will Fit Best

You know your students, courses, program, and university, and you can adapt your curriculum to deliver the best experience for all of them. Designing a case course is similar to other pedagogies. Decide on your learning objectives, as well as any content you wish to provide in addition to cases (textbooks, articles, videos, recorded lectures, etc.).

If you have not prepared a case course before, consider starting with a set of cases suggested by colleagues or featured within our Course Explorer tool. Review the case descriptions and perhaps search for and replace some cases to fit your abilities and your students’ interests and abilities. See Selecting Cases to Use in Your Classes for more guidance on choosing cases. If your time to prepare is tight, consider adopting cases with teaching notes.

Prepare Your Teaching Plan

Create a teaching plan for each case you choose to use. This can range from determining a set of labels for each of your classroom boards to preparing a detailed list of questions to ask with possible responses and analysis. Your preference could be anywhere in between. The key is that you will be as comfortable as is feasible in guiding the class to achieve your goals for each discussion. Do not treat the plan as a script—you should be open to unexpected opportunities during discussions. Preparing detailed teaching plans can help manage anxiety, but don’t let it displace other value-adding activities for your class.

Prepare Your Students, Too

If your students have little-to-no experience learning with cases before your course, be sure to provide them guidance. This could come in the form of a pre-meeting, recorded or written guidance from you, or reference materials such as Case Companion and The Case Study Handbook . No matter what, communicate to your students before the course begins to establish your expectations that they will come prepared for class. Even if your students have had other case classes, the expectations of their prior faculty may have varied, so being clear will still be of value.

Characteristics of Effective Case Teaching

The Heart of the Case Method

What the Case Method Really Teaches

More Key Topics

Teaching Cases in Hybrid Settings

How to balance the needs of both your in-person and remote students

Selecting Cases to Use in Your Classes

Find the right materials to achieve your learning goals

Facilitating a Case Discussion

Have a plan, but be ready to adjust it

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Using Case Studies to Teach

Why Use Cases?

Many students are more inductive than deductive reasoners, which means that they learn better from examples than from logical development starting with basic principles. The use of case studies can therefore be a very effective classroom technique.

Case studies are have long been used in business schools, law schools, medical schools and the social sciences, but they can be used in any discipline when instructors want students to explore how what they have learned applies to real world situations. Cases come in many formats, from a simple “What would you do in this situation?” question to a detailed description of a situation with accompanying data to analyze. Whether to use a simple scenario-type case or a complex detailed one depends on your course objectives.

Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action plan, proposal or decision.

Common Case Elements

Most “full-blown” cases have these common elements:

• A decision-maker who is grappling with some question or problem that needs to be solved.
• A description of the problem’s context (a law, an industry, a family).
• Supporting data, which can range from data tables to links to URLs, quoted statements or testimony, supporting documents, images, video, or audio.

Case assignments can be done individually or in teams so that the students can brainstorm solutions and share the work load.

The following discussion of this topic incorporates material presented by Robb Dixon of the School of Management and Rob Schadt of the School of Public Health at CEIT workshops. Professor Dixon also provided some written comments that the discussion incorporates.

Advantages to the use of case studies in class

A major advantage of teaching with case studies is that the students are actively engaged in figuring out the principles by abstracting from the examples. This develops their skills in:

• Problem solving
• Analytical tools, quantitative and/or qualitative, depending on the case
• Decision making in complex situations
• Coping with ambiguities

Guidelines for using case studies in class

In the most straightforward application, the presentation of the case study establishes a framework for analysis. It is helpful if the statement of the case provides enough information for the students to figure out solutions and then to identify how to apply those solutions in other similar situations. Instructors may choose to use several cases so that students can identify both the similarities and differences among the cases.

Depending on the course objectives, the instructor may encourage students to follow a systematic approach to their analysis.  For example:

• What is the issue?
• What is the goal of the analysis?
• What is the context of the problem?
• What key facts should be considered?
• What alternatives are available to the decision-maker?
• What would you recommend — and why?

An innovative approach to case analysis might be to have students  role-play the part of the people involved in the case. This not only actively engages students, but forces them to really understand the perspectives of the case characters. Videos or even field trips showing the venue in which the case is situated can help students to visualize the situation that they need to analyze.

Accompanying Readings

Case studies can be especially effective if they are paired with a reading assignment that introduces or explains a concept or analytical method that applies to the case. The amount of emphasis placed on the use of the reading during the case discussion depends on the complexity of the concept or method. If it is straightforward, the focus of the discussion can be placed on the use of the analytical results. If the method is more complex, the instructor may need to walk students through its application and the interpretation of the results.

Leading the Case Discussion and Evaluating Performance

Decision cases are more interesting than descriptive ones. In order to start the discussion in class, the instructor can start with an easy, noncontroversial question that all the students should be able to answer readily. However, some of the best case discussions start by forcing the students to take a stand. Some instructors will ask a student to do a formal “open” of the case, outlining his or her entire analysis.  Others may choose to guide discussion with questions that move students from problem identification to solutions.  A skilled instructor steers questions and discussion to keep the class on track and moving at a reasonable pace.

In order to motivate the students to complete the assignment before class as well as to stimulate attentiveness during the class, the instructor should grade the participation—quantity and especially quality—during the discussion of the case. This might be a simple check, check-plus, check-minus or zero. The instructor should involve as many students as possible. In order to engage all the students, the instructor can divide them into groups, give each group several minutes to discuss how to answer a question related to the case, and then ask a randomly selected person in each group to present the group’s answer and reasoning. Random selection can be accomplished through rolling of dice, shuffled index cards, each with one student’s name, a spinning wheel, etc.

Tips on the Penn State U. website: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/cases/

If you are interested in using this technique in a science course, there is a good website on use of case studies in the sciences at the University of Buffalo.

Dunne, D. and Brooks, K. (2004) Teaching with Cases (Halifax, NS: Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education), ISBN 0-7703-8924-4 (Can be ordered at http://www.bookstore.uwo.ca/ at a cost of $15.00)

• Case Teaching Resources

Teaching With Cases

Included here are resources to learn more about case method and teaching with cases.

What Is A Teaching Case?

This video explores the definition of a teaching case and introduces the rationale for using case method.

Narrated by Carolyn Wood, former director of the HKS Case Program

Learning by the Case Method

Questions for class discussion, common case teaching challenges and possible solutions, teaching with cases tip sheet, teaching ethics by the case method.

The case method is an effective way to increase student engagement and challenge students to integrate and apply skills to real-world problems. In these videos,  Using the Case Method to Teach Public Policy , you'll find invaluable insights into the art of case teaching from one of HKS’s most respected professors, Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez.

Chapter 1: Preparing for Class (2:29)

Chapter 2: How to begin the class and structure the discussion blocks (1:37)

Chapter 3: How to launch the discussion (1:36)

Chapter 4: Tools to manage the class discussion (2:23)

Chapter 5: Encouraging participation and acknowledging students' comments (1:52)

Chapter 6: Transitioning from one block to the next / Importance of body (2:05)

Chapter 7: Using the board plan to feed the discussion (3:33)

Chapter 8: Exploring the richness of the case (1:42)

Chapter 9: The wrap-up. Why teach cases? (2:49)

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Case-based learning.

Case-based learning (CBL) is an established approach used across disciplines where students apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios, promoting higher levels of cognition (see Bloom’s Taxonomy ). In CBL classrooms, students typically work in groups on case studies, stories involving one or more characters and/or scenarios.  The cases present a disciplinary problem or problems for which students devise solutions under the guidance of the instructor. CBL has a strong history of successful implementation in medical, law, and business schools, and is increasingly used within undergraduate education, particularly within pre-professional majors and the sciences (Herreid, 1994). This method involves guided inquiry and is grounded in constructivism whereby students form new meanings by interacting with their knowledge and the environment (Lee, 2012).

There are a number of benefits to using CBL in the classroom. In a review of the literature, Williams (2005) describes how CBL: utilizes collaborative learning, facilitates the integration of learning, develops students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to learn, encourages learner self-reflection and critical reflection, allows for scientific inquiry, integrates knowledge and practice, and supports the development of a variety of learning skills.

CBL has several defining characteristics, including versatility, storytelling power, and efficient self-guided learning.  In a systematic analysis of 104 articles in health professions education, CBL was found to be utilized in courses with less than 50 to over 1000 students (Thistlethwaite et al., 2012). In these classrooms, group sizes ranged from 1 to 30, with most consisting of 2 to 15 students.  Instructors varied in the proportion of time they implemented CBL in the classroom, ranging from one case spanning two hours of classroom time, to year-long case-based courses. These findings demonstrate that instructors use CBL in a variety of ways in their classrooms.

The stories that comprise the framework of case studies are also a key component to CBL’s effectiveness. Jonassen and Hernandez-Serrano (2002, p.66) describe how storytelling:

Is a method of negotiating and renegotiating meanings that allows us to enter into other’s realms of meaning through messages they utter in their stories,

Helps us find our place in a culture,

Allows us to explicate and to interpret, and

Facilitates the attainment of vicarious experience by helping us to distinguish the positive models to emulate from the negative model.

Neurochemically, listening to stories can activate oxytocin, a hormone that increases one’s sensitivity to social cues, resulting in more empathy, generosity, compassion and trustworthiness (Zak, 2013; Kosfeld et al., 2005). The stories within case studies serve as a means by which learners form new understandings through characters and/or scenarios.

CBL is often described in conjunction or in comparison with problem-based learning (PBL). While the lines are often confusingly blurred within the literature, in the most conservative of definitions, the features distinguishing the two approaches include that PBL involves open rather than guided inquiry, is less structured, and the instructor plays a more passive role. In PBL multiple solutions to the problem may exit, but the problem is often initially not well-defined. PBL also has a stronger emphasis on developing self-directed learning. The choice between implementing CBL versus PBL is highly dependent on the goals and context of the instruction.  For example, in a comparison of PBL and CBL approaches during a curricular shift at two medical schools, students and faculty preferred CBL to PBL (Srinivasan et al., 2007). Students perceived CBL to be a more efficient process and more clinically applicable. However, in another context, PBL might be the favored approach.

In a review of the effectiveness of CBL in health profession education, Thistlethwaite et al. (2012), found several benefits:

Students enjoyed the method and thought it enhanced their learning,

Instructors liked how CBL engaged students in learning,

CBL seemed to facilitate small group learning, but the authors could not distinguish between whether it was the case itself or the small group learning that occurred as facilitated by the case.

Other studies have also reported on the effectiveness of CBL in achieving learning outcomes (Bonney, 2015; Breslin, 2008; Herreid, 2013; Krain, 2016). These findings suggest that CBL is a vehicle of engagement for instruction, and facilitates an environment whereby students can construct knowledge.

Science – Students are given a scenario to which they apply their basic science knowledge and problem-solving skills to help them solve the case. One example within the biological sciences is two brothers who have a family history of a genetic illness. They each have mutations within a particular sequence in their DNA. Students work through the case and draw conclusions about the biological impacts of these mutations using basic science. Sample cases: You are Not the Mother of Your Children ; Organic Chemisty and Your Cellphone: Organic Light-Emitting Diodes ;   A Light on Physics: F-Number and Exposure Time

Medicine – Medical or pre-health students read about a patient presenting with specific symptoms. Students decide which questions are important to ask the patient in their medical history, how long they have experienced such symptoms, etc. The case unfolds and students use clinical reasoning, propose relevant tests, develop a differential diagnoses and a plan of treatment. Sample cases: The Case of the Crying Baby: Surgical vs. Medical Management ; The Plan: Ethics and Physician Assisted Suicide ; The Haemophilus Vaccine: A Victory for Immunologic Engineering

Public Health – A case study describes a pandemic of a deadly infectious disease. Students work through the case to identify Patient Zero, the person who was the first to spread the disease, and how that individual became infected.  Sample cases: The Protective Parent ; The Elusive Tuberculosis Case: The CDC and Andrew Speaker ; Credible Voice: WHO-Beijing and the SARS Crisis

Law – A case study presents a legal dilemma for which students use problem solving to decide the best way to advise and defend a client. Students are presented information that changes during the case.  Sample cases: Mortgage Crisis Call (abstract) ; The Case of the Unpaid Interns (abstract) ; Police-Community Dialogue (abstract)

Business – Students work on a case study that presents the history of a business success or failure. They apply business principles learned in the classroom and assess why the venture was successful or not. Sample cases: SELCO-Determining a path forward ; Project Masiluleke: Texting and Testing to Fight HIV/AIDS in South Africa ; Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Healthcare

Humanities - Students consider a case that presents a theater facing financial and management difficulties. They apply business and theater principles learned in the classroom to the case, working together to create solutions for the theater. Sample cases: David Geffen School of Drama

Recommendations

Finding and Writing Cases

Consider utilizing or adapting open access cases - The availability of open resources and databases containing cases that instructors can download makes this approach even more accessible in the classroom. Two examples of open databases are the Case Center on Public Leadership and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Case Program , which focus on government, leadership and public policy case studies.

• Consider writing original cases - In the event that an instructor is unable to find open access cases relevant to their course learning objectives, they may choose to write their own. See the following resources on case writing: Cooking with Betty Crocker: A Recipe for Case Writing ; The Way of Flesch: The Art of Writing Readable Cases ;   Twixt Fact and Fiction: A Case Writer’s Dilemma ; And All That Jazz: An Essay Extolling the Virtues of Writing Case Teaching Notes .

Implementing Cases

Take baby steps if new to CBL - While entire courses and curricula may involve case-based learning, instructors who desire to implement on a smaller-scale can integrate a single case into their class, and increase the number of cases utilized over time as desired.

Use cases in classes that are small, medium or large - Cases can be scaled to any course size. In large classes with stadium seating, students can work with peers nearby, while in small classes with more flexible seating arrangements, teams can move their chairs closer together. CBL can introduce more noise (and energy) in the classroom to which an instructor often quickly becomes accustomed. Further, students can be asked to work on cases outside of class, and wrap up discussion during the next class meeting.

Encourage collaborative work - Cases present an opportunity for students to work together to solve cases which the historical literature supports as beneficial to student learning (Bruffee, 1993). Allow students to work in groups to answer case questions.

Form diverse teams as feasible - When students work within diverse teams they can be exposed to a variety of perspectives that can help them solve the case. Depending on the context of the course, priorities, and the background information gathered about the students enrolled in the class, instructors may choose to organize student groups to allow for diversity in factors such as current course grades, gender, race/ethnicity, personality, among other items.  

Use stable teams as appropriate - If CBL is a large component of the course, a research-supported practice is to keep teams together long enough to go through the stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman, 1965).

Walk around to guide groups - In CBL instructors serve as facilitators of student learning. Walking around allows the instructor to monitor student progress as well as identify and support any groups that may be struggling. Teaching assistants can also play a valuable role in supporting groups.

Interrupt strategically - Only every so often, for conversation in large group discussion of the case, especially when students appear confused on key concepts. An effective practice to help students meet case learning goals is to guide them as a whole group when the class is ready. This may include selecting a few student groups to present answers to discussion questions to the entire class, asking the class a question relevant to the case using polling software, and/or performing a mini-lesson on an area that appears to be confusing among students.  

Assess student learning in multiple ways - Students can be assessed informally by asking groups to report back answers to various case questions. This practice also helps students stay on task, and keeps them accountable. Cases can also be included on exams using related scenarios where students are asked to apply their knowledge.

Barrows HS. (1996). Problem-based learning in medicine and beyond: a brief overview. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 68, 3-12.  

Bonney KM. (2015). Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 16(1): 21-28.

Breslin M, Buchanan, R. (2008) On the Case Study Method of Research and Teaching in Design.  Design Issues, 24(1), 36-40.

Bruffee KS. (1993). Collaborative learning: Higher education, interdependence, and authority of knowledge. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.

Herreid CF. (2013). Start with a Story: The Case Study Method of Teaching College Science, edited by Clyde Freeman Herreid. Originally published in 2006 by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA); reprinted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) in 2013.

Herreid CH. (1994). Case studies in science: A novel method of science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 23(4), 221–229.

Jonassen DH and Hernandez-Serrano J. (2002). Case-based reasoning and instructional design: Using stories to support problem solving. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 50(2), 65-77.  

Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E. (2005). Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature, 435, 673-676.

Krain M. (2016) Putting the learning in case learning? The effects of case-based approaches on student knowledge, attitudes, and engagement. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 27(2), 131-153.

Lee V. (2012). What is Inquiry-Guided Learning?  New Directions for Learning, 129:5-14.

Nkhoma M, Sriratanaviriyakul N. (2017). Using case method to enrich students’ learning outcomes. Active Learning in Higher Education, 18(1):37-50.

Srinivasan et al. (2007). Comparing problem-based learning with case-based learning: Effects of a major curricular shift at two institutions. Academic Medicine, 82(1): 74-82.

Thistlethwaite JE et al. (2012). The effectiveness of case-based learning in health professional education. A BEME systematic review: BEME Guide No. 23.  Medical Teacher, 34, e421-e444.

Tuckman B. (1965). Development sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-99.

Williams B. (2005). Case-based learning - a review of the literature: is there scope for this educational paradigm in prehospital education? Emerg Med, 22, 577-581.

Zak, PJ (2013). How Stories Change the Brain. Retrieved from: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_stories_change_brain

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Making Learning Relevant With Case Studies

The open-ended problems presented in case studies give students work that feels connected to their lives.

To prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet, we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers so that they’ll be ready for anything. One way to do this is by teaching content and skills using real-world case studies, a learning model that’s focused on reflection during the problem-solving process. It’s similar to project-based learning, but PBL is more focused on students creating a product.

Case studies have been used for years by businesses, law and medical schools, physicians on rounds, and artists critiquing work. Like other forms of problem-based learning, case studies can be accessible for every age group, both in one subject and in interdisciplinary work.

You can get started with case studies by tackling relatable questions like these with your students:

• How can we limit food waste in the cafeteria?
• How can we get our school to recycle and compost waste? (Or, if you want to be more complex, how can our school reduce its carbon footprint?)
• How can we improve school attendance?
• How can we reduce the number of people who get sick at school during cold and flu season?

Addressing questions like these leads students to identify topics they need to learn more about. In researching the first question, for example, students may see that they need to research food chains and nutrition. Students often ask, reasonably, why they need to learn something, or when they’ll use their knowledge in the future. Learning is most successful for students when the content and skills they’re studying are relevant, and case studies offer one way to create that sense of relevance.

Teaching With Case Studies

Ultimately, a case study is simply an interesting problem with many correct answers. What does case study work look like in classrooms? Teachers generally start by having students read the case or watch a video that summarizes the case. Students then work in small groups or individually to solve the case study. Teachers set milestones defining what students should accomplish to help them manage their time.

During the case study learning process, student assessment of learning should be focused on reflection. Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick’s Learning and Leading With Habits of Mind gives several examples of what this reflection can look like in a classroom: 

Journaling: At the end of each work period, have students write an entry summarizing what they worked on, what worked well, what didn’t, and why. Sentence starters and clear rubrics or guidelines will help students be successful. At the end of a case study project, as Costa and Kallick write, it’s helpful to have students “select significant learnings, envision how they could apply these learnings to future situations, and commit to an action plan to consciously modify their behaviors.”

Interviews: While working on a case study, students can interview each other about their progress and learning. Teachers can interview students individually or in small groups to assess their learning process and their progress.

Student discussion: Discussions can be unstructured—students can talk about what they worked on that day in a think-pair-share or as a full class—or structured, using Socratic seminars or fishbowl discussions. If your class is tackling a case study in small groups, create a second set of small groups with a representative from each of the case study groups so that the groups can share their learning.

4 Tips for Setting Up a Case Study

1. Identify a problem to investigate: This should be something accessible and relevant to students’ lives. The problem should also be challenging and complex enough to yield multiple solutions with many layers.

2. Give context: Think of this step as a movie preview or book summary. Hook the learners to help them understand just enough about the problem to want to learn more.

3. Have a clear rubric: Giving structure to your definition of quality group work and products will lead to stronger end products. You may be able to have your learners help build these definitions.

4. Provide structures for presenting solutions: The amount of scaffolding you build in depends on your students’ skill level and development. A case study product can be something like several pieces of evidence of students collaborating to solve the case study, and ultimately presenting their solution with a detailed slide deck or an essay—you can scaffold this by providing specified headings for the sections of the essay.

Problem-Based Teaching Resources

There are many high-quality, peer-reviewed resources that are open source and easily accessible online.

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo built an online collection of more than 800 cases that cover topics ranging from biochemistry to economics. There are resources for middle and high school students.
• Models of Excellence , a project maintained by EL Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has examples of great problem- and project-based tasks—and corresponding exemplary student work—for grades pre-K to 12.
• The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning at Purdue University is an open-source journal that publishes examples of problem-based learning in K–12 and post-secondary classrooms.
• The Tech Edvocate has a list of websites and tools related to problem-based learning.

In their book Problems as Possibilities , Linda Torp and Sara Sage write that at the elementary school level, students particularly appreciate how they feel that they are taken seriously when solving case studies. At the middle school level, “researchers stress the importance of relating middle school curriculum to issues of student concern and interest.” And high schoolers, they write, find the case study method “beneficial in preparing them for their future.”

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Higher Education Case Studies

Want to know how we’ve collaborated with universities to support their learners? Look no further.

From enhancing course quality to building operational efficiency in areas such as enrollment and retention, our higher education case studies detail a few ways we’ve tailored services for our university partners and improved outcomes for their learners.

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The Power of Flexible Partnership: Case Studies of a Diverse Group of Institutions

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Digital Transformation in Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study at Polytechnic University of Tomar

• First Online: 27 March 2024

Cite this chapter

• Célio Gonçalo Marques 7 ,
• Lígia Mateus 7 &
• Inês Araújo 7  

Part of the book series: EAI/Springer Innovations in Communication and Computing ((EAISICC))

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Digital content creation is essential for the digital transformation of higher education institutions, enabling them to adapt to the changing needs of students and prepare them for the digital age. It fosters pedagogical innovation and facilitates distance learning, providing personalized and self-paced experiences for diverse learners. By incorporating multimedia elements, educators can create engaging materials that improve understanding, retention, and application of knowledge. This case study focuses on the creation of digital educational content for the Polytechnic University of Tomar (IPT) using an agile learning approach. The process involves several phases, including analysis, design, development, implementation, and assessment. The research is in the implementation phase. This streamlined process simplifies content production and enables more teachers to integrate interactive learning materials into their teaching practice. The production of these online courses is part of the STRONG project – skills and resilient teachers focused on the next generations. Led by the Laboratory of Pedagogical Innovation and Distance Learning at the IPT, this initiative aims to empower teachers and students at this level of education, promoting their better preparation in terms of digital skills and resilience for the future labor market, combined with new ways of living and participating in society.

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Acknowledgments

Project reference POCH-02-53I2-FSE-000010, co-financed by POCH - Portugal 2020 Operational Programme and coordinated by LIED – Laboratory of Pedagogical Innovation and Distance Learning, of the Polytechnic University of Tomar.

Activity carried out in collaboration with the instructional designers from the Delft Digital Learning company.

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Marques, C.G., Mateus, L., Araújo, I. (2024). Digital Transformation in Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study at Polytechnic University of Tomar. In: de Bem Machado, A., Sousa, M.J., Dal Mas, F., Secinaro, S., Calandra, D. (eds) Digital Transformation in Higher Education Institutions. EAI/Springer Innovations in Communication and Computing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52296-3_3

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Student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion in postgraduate courses of computer science

• Xinhong Zhang 1 ,
• Boyan Zhang 1 &
• Fan Zhang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2176-3835 2  

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume  20 , Article number:  6 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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This study explores a student-centered teaching method in postgraduate courses. Teacher-centered classroom teaching cannot fully stimulate learning initiative and enthusiasm of students. Student-centered means that students actively learn and construct knowledge by participating in teaching activities. This study presents a student-centered online–offline hybrid teaching method, which adopts student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion in the postgraduate courses of computer science. The latest engineering cases are integrated into teaching and a case library is constructed. Taking the digital image processing course as an example, student-centered teaching allows students to choose what to learn and how to learn. Case-based teaching makes students better understand the application of theory of knowledge. It can introduce multiple perspectives, promote understanding and reflection on problems, and help students develop higher-level thinking, analysis, and synthesis skills. This study explores online–offline case discussion method in the student-centered teaching and proposes the principles of case design of postgraduate courses. Revised Bloom’s taxonomy is used for teaching assessment. The actual teaching effect shows that student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion have achieved better teaching effect.

Introduction

Teacher-centered classroom teaching is the main mode adopted in current postgraduate courses of computer science. However, this traditional teaching mode cannot fully stimulate the learning initiative and enthusiasm of students, and is also not conducive to cultivating their innovative thinking ability. We find it difficult to achieve the teaching goal by completely adopting teacher-centered classroom teaching for science and engineering graduate students, because their studies focus more on engineering and practical applications. So, it is necessary to explore a new teaching mode. Case-based teaching (CBT) or case-based learning (CBL) provides a solution to solve the problems above (Sangam et al.,  2021 ).

In case-based teaching, a case is defined as a description based on a real event or situation in which sufficient detail is provided to assist students in the analysis and solution of problems (Prada et al.,  2020 ; Tan et al.,  2014 ). The development of information technology has created a variety of possibilities for the design of cases. Therefore, cases are also defined as the typical teaching events using multimedia formats, such as video, audio, pictures, animation, and web pages. The case-based teaching method guides students to carry out a series of learning activities, including analysis, discussion, problem-solving, evaluation, reflection etc., which is helpful for students to develop higher-level thinking, analytical and integrative skills (Tawfik et al.,  2017 ; Strobel et al.,  2013 ). Some studies have shown that case-based teaching makes up for the deficiency of passive acceptance of learning, and has a significant impact on promoting knowledge transfer and knowledge application.

This paper presents a student-centered online–offline hybrid teaching method for the postgraduate courses of computer science, which adopts case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion. The latest engineering cases are integrated into teaching and a case library is constructed. Taking the digital image processing course as an example, student-centered teaching allows students to choose what to learn and how to learn. Case-based teaching makes students better understand the application of theory. It can introduce multiple perspectives, promote understanding and reflection on problems, and help students develop higher-level thinking, analysis, and synthesis skills. Revised Bloom’s taxonomy is used for teaching assessment.

The main contributions of this study are as follows:

Exploring student-centered teaching in postgraduate courses.

Using cases as the main contents of teaching.

Adopting the case-based teaching method.

Exploring the online–offline case discussions in the student-centered teaching.

Proposing the principles of case design of postgraduate courses.

This paper is organized as follows: " Introduction " section deals with the introduction. " Literature review " section reviews the relevant literature. " Methods " section describes the method of case library construction and the method of student-centered case-based teaching. " Result " section provides the implementation results of our teaching method. " Discussion " section discusses this study. Finally, " Conclusion " section draws conclusion.

Literature review

Case-based teaching

The design and implementation of case-based teaching activities create opportunities for an exploratory new learning mode (Goeze et al.,  2014 ). By participating in a series of activities in case-based teaching, students actively develop skills of knowledge application and problem-solving, and conduct abilities of higher-level thinking, analysis and synthesis (Newton et al.,  2015b ). Several studies have highlighted how case-based teaching enhances students’ comprehension and critical thinking skills (Leon et al.,  2015 ). Students’ reflective and critical thinking skills are promoted as they work on cases that challenge them to deal with issues of multiple layers and complex dimensions.

With the development of information technology, the cases used for teaching have been transformed from the textual narration to the multimedia-based presentation. Multimedia cases are gradually applied to the online learning environment (Luo et al.,  2018 ). Multimedia case teaching has its unique advantages. It can better simulate the complexity of real-world problems (Rico & Ertmer,  2015 ). For example, the cases presented by interactive multimedia can attract and motivate students, and can effectively promote knowledge transfer. Hewitt et al. use video cases as the carrier of case-based teaching. They encourage students to think, discuss, solve, and reflect the problem through pause and interaction of the video case at each key point. The final results prove that video case teaching promotes the learning interest and motivation of students (Hewitt et al.,  2003 ). In the exploration of learning effects, Choi et al. use the interaction and feedback functions of multimedia cases to provide feedbacks of experts at each decision point of case problems. During the case learning process, students can view expert opinions to gain an in-depth understanding of the problem. The results of the learning effect evaluation demonstrate the effectiveness of multimedia case teaching (Choi & Lee,  2008 ). Research results show that multimedia case teaching improves learning motivation of students, helps students better master knowledge, and improves their problem-solving ability. Yoon et al. use learning analytics to gain useful insights into student learning in a video-based online learning environment (Yoon et al.,  2021 ). Based on the observed patterns of log behavior, students can be divided into two categories: active learners and passive learners. Aactive learners have higher academic performance than passive learners.

When constructing teaching cases, teachers should start by identifying goals, identifying skills, and deciding which concepts students should learn. Through this process, teachers carefully consider the learning outcomes that students should achieve (Jevne et al.,  2021 ). Newton et al. argue that case production can be either open-ended or guided by challenges or problems, depending on the teaching purpose and student population. The case should enhance students’ interest by using stories they can relate to (Newton et al.,  2015a ).

Case discussion

Case discussion is an important part of case-based teaching. It is regarded as the key to the success of case-based teaching. Teachers guide students to express their personal opinions on the case, and realize the sharing process of problem exploration and knowledge construction (Ertmer & Koehler,  2014 ). Some studies have shown that case discussions can introduce a variety of viewpoints, promote students’ understanding and reflection on problems, and help students transfer and apply knowledge. In general, case discussion has a good role in promoting case-based teaching (Ertmer & Koehler,  2015 ). Yew et al. believe that students’ participation in the interactive case activities can help students to actively construct knowledge, improve learning interest and learning engagement, and enhance learning performance (Yew & Yong,  2014 ). The targeted guidance of teachers also improves the learning experience and learning effect (Long & Koehler,  2021 ; Kim,  2022 ; Roels et al.,  2021 ; Zhang et al.,  2019 , 2022a ). Lock et al. provide expert understandings of online discussions. These understandings address real-world issues related to diverse and digital classrooms (Lock & Redmond,  2021 ). Zhang et al. use epistemic network analysis (ENA) to explore the collaborative problem-solving processes of students and teachers in different online collaborative learning tasks (Zhang et al.,  2022b ). By investigating the academic performance of collaborative problem-solving patterns, they reveal in detail the relationship between cooperative problem-solving and students’ academic performance.

The online learning environment presents both opportunities and challenges for case discussions (Mcpartlan et al.,  2021 ). Broadbent et al. evaluate whether self-regulated learning (SRL) impacts with students’ academic performance in both online and offline learning environments (Broadbent et al.,  2021 ). Among students who study online, those who benefit the most are those who are confident, able to manage their time and discipline their efforts. Turk et al. believe that online course instructors should provide self-supporting goals, choices, guidance, and feedbacks. They should also ensure their effective interactions with students. The interactive learning environment for students to interact with their peers should be socially and emotionally trusting (Turk et al.,  2022 ).

As an important activity of the case-based teaching method, online discussions create conditions for online teaching or online–offline hybrid teaching. online–offline hybrid teaching is a kind of teaching that combines online teaching with traditional teaching (Zhao et al.,  2022 ; Yi,  2022 ; Peng & Wei,  2021 ). online–offline hybrid case discussion has special advantages. (1) online–offline hybrid case discussion breaks the limitation of time and space. It realizes a more flexible and free way of asynchronous discussion. Online case discussion prolongs the timeliness of classroom discussion and provides students with a more personalized learning pace, more flexible problem-solving and reflection space. (2) online–offline hybrid case discussion creates more favorable conditions for the participation of teachers and invited experts. Flexible online and offline interaction helps teachers to provide more accurate guidance and feedback, which makes it possible for highly interactive case teaching. However, the asynchronous discussion makes the problem discussion lose the characteristics of timely feedback, and the online discussion weakens the guiding role of teachers to a certain extent (Wu,  2022 ; Li et al.,  2021 ).

• Student-centered teaching

The student-centered teaching concept reflects the principles of constructivism theory. Student-centered means that students actively learn and construct knowledge by participating in teaching activities (Zhienbayeva & Abdigapbarova,  2021 ; Mamnpoba,  2021 ). In student-centered teaching, the teaching method changes from teaching to guiding; The teaching subject changes from teacher to student; The teaching content changes from textbook to practice; The assessment method changes from traditional examinations to diversified procedural examinations. Student-centered teaching is closely related to students’ learning enthusiasm. Specifically, student-centered teaching can help students actively participate in learning and achieve better grades. When students’ needs are more comprehensively met, student attendance will increase, and the possibility of dropping out will be reduced. They will focus more on their studies and be better prepared for graduation. Constantinou et al. point out that student-centered teaching involves not only academic learning, but also other skills, such as active participation in society or community, professionalism, mental health, etc. Therefore, student-centered teaching requires a holistic view of the learning and development of students (Constantinou,  2020 ). The corona virus 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic has forced higher education to transform to the online learning mode. This provides an opportunity to adopt student-centered teaching. Active learning can improve students’ performance and close the achievement gaps for underachievers (Sandrone et al.,  2021 ). Angel et al. adopt the method of flipped classroom to carry out student-centered teaching (Mingorance Estrada et al.,  2019 ). Compared with the traditional teaching, this method significantly improves student performance, increases student interaction, and improves classroom attendance and engagement. Teachers’ feedback and teacher-student interaction will effectively mobilize students’ learning enthusiasm. Moges et al. believe that in order to improve the teaching effect, teachers should innovate and diversify teaching methods to attract students to participate. In addition, teachers and students need to be properly trained. Both of them need to understand the impact of student-centered education so that they have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities (Moges,  2019 ).

Both the teacher-centered teaching method and the student-centered teaching method are useful. The best teaching method is comprehensive. Different teaching methods can learn from each other and complement each other. Several studies have revealed the value of combining traditional teaching with student-centered teaching. A way of combined approach is for students to try to solve problems on their own. The teacher then teaches the correct problem-solving steps and compares the student’s solution to a standard problem-solving solution. This model can be called learning before teaching. Exploratory learning is a teaching method of learning before teaching. Exploratory learning refers to the exploration of new problems by students before they are taught related concepts and solutions (Chung & Ho,  2021 ). The purpose of exploratory learning is to give students the opportunity to explore new topics for themselves before accepting traditional teaching (Weaver et al.,  2018 ; Schalk et al.,  2017 ). Another way of combining application is to teach the relevant knowledge and correct solution directly, and then ask the students to do problem-solving exercises using the method taught by the teacher. This model can be called teaching before learning. The most typical example of teaching before learning is problem-based learning (PBL). PBL is a teaching method that students are presented with a real or realistic problem, such as a case, and use inductive reasoning to learn both information about the topic and how to think critically about it. Through PBL, students can acquire both knowledge and skills of collaboration, communication, and reflection (Kapur,  2016 ; Armstrong et al.,  2021 ).

Self-regulated learning and Bloom’s taxonomy

Self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to the process by which students activate and maintain their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and systematically achieve learning goals (Song et al.,  2021 ; Tran et al.,  2022 ). Learning goal, efficacy and learning strategy are three important components of self-regulated learning (Granberg et al.,  2021 ). The most striking feature of self-regulated learning is that students have actual control over their own learning. They can cognitive and control the processes directly to achieve their learning goals (Callan et al.,  2021 ; Guo et al.,  2021a ; Tuti et al.,  2021 ). Rovers et al. compare the validity of several different methods of self-regulated learning (Rovers et al.,  2019 ). The self-reported questionnaire can reflect the overall level of students’ self-regulated learning. In contrast, behavioral measures provide more accurate explanations when students are asked to report specific self-regulated learning strategies. Many studies have shown that the external feedback from teachers could promote students’ self-regulated learning (Yunus et al.,  2021 ; Aguilar et al.,  2021 ). Teacher’s feedback and evaluation could increase the intrinsic motivation of students. For example, encouraging students to participate in more challenging tasks can improve the self-regulated learning level of students. Students typically exhibit more academic help-seeking behavior and make more efforts in response to teachers’ support (Guo et al.,  2021b ).

Bloom’s taxonomy is a hierarchical model that divides learning into levels of complexity. The revised Bloom’s taxonomy divides the cognitive process dimensions in six levels (Krathwohl,  2002 ). The six levels from low to high are: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. Figure  1 shows the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy is a hierarchical model designating learning into levels of complexity and is often used to structure course experiences such as learning objectives, assessments, and pedagogical choices (Killion et al.,  2022 ). Bloom’s taxonomy of educational goals reflects the relationship between knowledge learning and ability development through the structure of knowledge dimension and cognitive process dimension. It is also a tool for the evaluation of teaching objectives and the assessment of examinations (Vieyra & Gonzlez,  2020 ). Desha et al. propose a new model to assess the development of problem-solving skills based on Bloom’s taxonomy (Desha et al.,  2021 ). They wonder how the design might have stimulated or dampened student appreciation of complexity, and how these findings aligned with desired expectations. To explore this, the learning materials are evaluated through Bloom’s taxonomy. The goal is to understand the extent to which the course content exposed students to the spectrum of problem-solving contexts. Dolan et al. propose some recommendations for the use of virtual simulations in the current learning environment by studying learning theories, learning styles, and Bloom’s revised taxonomy (Dolan et al.,  2021 ). Synchronous debriefing with students, faculty, preceptors, and peers provides the opportunity for scaffolding to support students’ learning needs and foster reflection.

The revised Bloom’s taxonomy

Construction of a case library for the digital image processing course

Digital image processing is a course for computer science graduate students. This course is both theoretical and practical. At present, the cases in the teaching materials are relatively outdated and cannot reflect the latest research progress. In addition, because there is no experiment arranged, students’ sense of participation is not strong. This paper explores the method of student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion during digital image processing.

The construction objectives of the case library (or case base) of digital image processing course are as follows. The design of case library is student-centered. The information and data in the case should fully consider correctness and reliability. Case library requires constant maintenance and updating. Cases should meet the requirements of typicality, objectivity, advancement, and innovation. Students can acquire the knowledge of image processing efficiently and quickly from cases. Through case-based teaching, students should be able to broaden their horizons, stimulate their learning interest and improve their practical abilities.

Principles of case design

We propose the following principles of case design for the engineering courses:

Comprehensiveness. Multiple knowledge points are run through case-based teaching. Knowledge points are presented to students in the form of interconnected case applications. Students can discover and master knowledge in the practice process of problem-solving. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure comprehensive requirements in case design, so that the designed cases can be seamlessly connected with the knowledge points of the textbooks.

Advanced. The latest research results are collated into teaching cases to replace the outdated cases of the textbooks. The teaching case should be advanced and innovative. For example, choosing teaching cases using artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies can make up for the insufficient introduction of new knowledge and new technologies in the textbooks.

Engineering. The practical engineering problems are transformed into teaching cases to reflect the practicability of the digital image processing course. For example, we invite engineering experts from partner companies to write cases together. These cases place more emphasis on the combination of theory and practice.

Case design and selection

The design and selection of cases should give students a solid understanding of the application and implementation of theories, methods, and models. Well-designed cases can guide students to discover, analyze, and solve problems. Cases should involve all the knowledge points and their applications of each chapter of the digital image processing course.

Digital image processing has been widely used in many fields. The applications of digital image processing are interconnected with many disciplines, such as mathematics, physics, biology, medicine, and computer science. At the same time, it is supported by many new theories, new tools, and new technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the main application field of digital image processing. The digital image processing course intersects with many courses, such as pattern recognition, machine vision, computer graphics and other courses. Therefore, the design and selection of cases should avoid being limited to the knowledge points of a digital image processing course, but should try to reflect interdisciplinary characteristics and interdisciplinary integration. Figure  2 shows the relationship between a digital image processing course and other disciplines or courses.

The relationship between a digital image processing course and other disciplines or courses

According to the case design principles mentioned above, we designed and selected some teaching cases for the digital image processing course. In order to facilitate students’ extracurricular study and online–offline discussions, we provide the case study documents for each case. The contents of case study documents include preparatory knowledge, theoretical knowledge, technical points, implementation process, results, and demonstration programs. Source codes are also provided in most of the cases. Case study documents are distributed online for students to study and practice after class. Some of the case study documents of the digital image processing course are shown in Table  1 .

Arrangements of student-centered case-based teaching

Our student-centered case-based teaching process adopts an online–offline hybrid approach. The teaching arrangement includes theoretical knowledge lectures (offline), case introduction (offline or online), extracurricular literature reading, extracurricular experiments, and group discussions (online or offline).

Lectures on theoretical knowledge

Classroom teaching is used to describe the knowledge background and the application fields of cases. Problems are elicited through cases, and theoretical concepts and knowledge points related to cases are explained. In the teaching of theoretical knowledge, we only teach selected contents of the textbook to save the limited classroom teaching time. The rest of the contents are left to students for self-study and discussion.

Introduction of cases

When and how to introduce cases is also considered. According to the teaching plan, we determine which cases are introduced in which chapters, how each case is presented, and how long it takes to explain or demonstrate the case. The introduction of cases not only enables students to better understand the practical application of theoretical knowledge, but also enables these cases to effectively support the relevant knowledge points in the textbook.

Extracurricular literature reading and extracurricular experiments

We arrange for students to consult the literature on the content of theoretical knowledge of the introduced cases. Students should run the source codes provided by case after class and improve it, or design new codes according to the requirements of the case and the theoretical knowledge they have learned. They need to implement the codes themselves to achieve the required functions of the case.

online–offline discussion

online–offline group discussions are conducted on the theoretical knowledge lectures, introduced cases, and experimental results. We encourage students to ask questions and encourage their sense of innovation. When necessary, we also arrange for oral presentations by group representatives.

Implementations of student-centered case-based teaching

The case-based teaching process is designed as student-centered. The main teaching content is cases and textbooks. The implementations of student-centered case-based teaching for digital image processing course is shown in Fig.  3 .

The implementations of student-centered case-based teaching for the digital image processing course

Providing case documents online and arranging students to preview before class.

Introducing the background and objectives of the case in traditional classroom teaching mode, and teaching relevant knowledge and theories. Classroom group discussions are arranged during this process.

Guiding students to explore cases in online and offline hybrid teaching mode. Students learn relevant theories and methods through case studies. Students are encouraged to come up with their own solutions based on the theories and methods they have learned. This is a learning-imitation-exploration-innovation process (innovation is optional). Online and offline discussions are arranged during this process.

Students implement extracurricular experiments based on the source codes provided by the case or design new codes by themselves. The analysis of the experimental results also needs to be done themselves. They can communicate about the problems they encountered, seek help, or discuss solutions of problems and experimental results through online or offline discussions.

Introducing, sharing, and demonstrating the learning results of the case in online or classroom teaching mode. Finally, we organize exams and evaluate the exam results.

Assessment methods

The revised Bloom’s taxonomy is used for teaching objective evaluation and examination assessment. After the introduction of the case-based teaching mode, the assessment method also needs to be adjusted accordingly. We no longer only use the static indicators, such as exam scores, but introduce the dynamic indicators for the assessments, such as case study reports, experiment reports, literature reading reports, oral reports, and records of participation in online–offline group discussions. These assessments consider the characteristics of case-based teaching and realize individualized evaluation.

Research object

This research is based on the digital image processing course for graduate students of computer science. Full-time postgraduate students of three consecutive years participated in this research. Since the number of graduate students varies from year to year, we randomly selected 100 students from each year as one group. All the students in the three groups are to study the digital image processing course for the first time, and they had never learned any cases used in this research before. The three groups of students are roughly equivalent in gender ratio, age distribution, and course-related prior knowledge. In addition, when the questionnaire of learning interest and learning motivation were scored, the feedbacks of the three groups of students are not significantly different. Which indicates that they have similar learning interests and learning motivations.

Different teaching methods, teaching contents, and assessment methods were adopted to the three groups of students. The differences between them are shown in Table  2 .

Student-centered case-based learning

The case-based teaching process is designed as student-centered. After the traditional classroom teaching for the introduction of the cases background and objectives, and the online–offline hybrid teaching for the study of relevant theories and methods, students are encouraged to propose their own solutions based on the theories and methods they have learned. Students can design and implement personalized solutions, and in the process, further learn and understand the theories and methods they want to use.

Example of a case: Text recognition of images.

Some X-ray images of welding seam inspection are provided. The goal of this case is to identify all the text on the X-ray images. This is a case with practical engineering needs.

According to the procedure of non-destructive testing (NDT), operators (welding workers) place some leaden markers beside the welding seam. The leaden markers are photographed together with the welding seam. The leaden markers include image quality indicator, positioning markers (center markers, overlap markers) and other identification markers. These identification markers can display the project number, pipe number, welding seam number, welding worker’s ID, welding date, etc.

The welding seam films will be scanned as high-quality digital images by using an industrial X-ray film digitizer. A scanned example image is shown in Fig.  4 . The resolution of scanned image is \(4242\times 882\times 3\) , and the image format is TIFF.

The scanned X-ray imaging film

Usually, the solution of this case includes three main parts: image preprocessing, image segmentation, and text recognition. Each part can be implemented in many different methods or a combination of several methods. For example, the methods of image preprocessing include: contrast enhancement, binarization, histogram equalization, geometric transformation, gray level interpolation, noise removal and so on. The methods of image segmentation include: threshold-based segmentation methods (such as Otsu’s method), region-based segmentation methods, and edge-based segmentation methods. In addition, image segmentation may also involve other related technologies, such as Radon transform. The methods of text recognition include: the traditional machine learning methods, such as artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine (SVM), etc., and the deep learning methods, such as deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), recurrent neural network (RNN), etc. Here, deep learning is the learning technology in the sense of artificial intelligence (AI) rather than the learning method in the sense of education.

In each part, students can choose one or more methods they want to learn and use according to their own learning ability and learning interest. After making their choice, they need to conduct an in-depth study of these methods. They can download the source codes or write their own codes to implement these methods. Finally, the three parts of the codes are combined to generate their own personalized solution. Because the methods that students choose to learn and use are not the same, the combination of these methods results in a variety of personalized solutions. These solutions need to be tested and evaluated experimentally. Students can communicate any issues they encounter and share their learning experiences through online and offline case discussions. In this process, we encourage students to innovate their own methods or adopt novel ways of combining methods. For this case, the student-centered case-based teaching process is shown in Fig.  5 .

An example (text recognition of images) of the student-centered case-based teaching process

Learning behavior comparison

We compared the learning behaviors of Group B and Group C (Group A was the traditional teaching model without providing new cases). Group B adopted extracurricular self-regulated case learning mode. Group C adopted the student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion mode. According to the statistics, the times of online–offline discussions, the time of discussion, the times of asking questions, and the times of answering questions of Group C students was much larger than that of Group C students. The number of completed cases and the implement quality of cases of Group C students was better than that of Group C students. A radar chart of learning behavior comparison is shown as Fig.  6 . The comparison of the two groups of students’ learning behavior shows that the student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion teaching mode could indeed improve the students’ learning interest and initiative.

Radar chart of learning behavior comparison

Assessments

In the teaching of Group A, Group B and Group C, Groups A and B adopted the traditional teaching mode. The teaching of Group A did not involve new cases. Students of Group B were provided with case study documents and were arranged for extracurricular self-regulated case learning. Group C adopted the student-centered case-based teaching mode. The assessment methods of three groups were also different. Both Group A and Group B used the traditional examination method. Although students of Group B were arranged to study the case by themselves, the examination contents of Group B did not involve these cases. The assessment methods of Group C included traditional examination, case study reports, experiment reports, etc. In Group B, because the cases are self-regulated learned and the exam did not involve cases, many students did not put a lot of effort into the case study. The examination scores of Group B only improved slightly compared to Group A. The student-centered case-based teaching mode adopted by Group C greatly stimulated students’ learning interest, and their examination scores improved significantly. The comparison results show that the examination scores of Group C are significantly better than those of Group A and Group B. The comparison of the examination scores of the three groups is shown in Fig.  6 .

Comparison of examination scores of the three groups

Bloom’s taxonomy can be used as a tool for objective evaluation and examination assessment. It reflects the relationship between knowledge learning and ability development. In the assessments of Group C, we assigned six weights for each examination question according to the revised Bloom’s taxonomy in six aspects: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. Table  3 is an example of student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion applying the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. Each cognitive skill corresponds to a specific teaching objective, and these teaching objectives are reflected in the specific test questions.

We conducted a comparison of the examination performance of students in Group A and Group C according to the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. The test data of the two groups approximately obey the normal distribution and meet the requirement of parameter test. The joint hypotheses test ( F -test) is used to analyze whether there are significant differences in the knowledge and ability levels of the two groups of students. The F -test results are shown in Table  4 , where MS represents mean squares, df represents degrees of freedom. Degrees of freedom refers to the number of variables that can be evaluated without restriction when calculating a uniform measure. F -value (or F -statistic) is the test statistic. P -value is the observed significance level. F crit represents the F -critical value, which is a specific value that F -value is compared with. It can be seen from Table  4 that, for Remember, Analyze, and Evaluate, their F -values are less than F crit and P -values are higher than 0.05. This indicates that there is no significant difference between the two groups in these three aspects. For Understand, Apply, and Create, their F -values are greater than F crit and P -value are less than 0.01. This indicates that the two groups of data have very significant differences in these three aspects. The F -test results show that, in three aspects of Understand, Apply, and Create, our teaching method has a very significant improvement over the traditional teaching method.

These results can be interpreted as follows. Traditional classroom teaching methods emphasize memorization of basic theories and concepts, based on which students can use these insights to solve problems and pass exams. Therefore, students are fully trained in the three cognitive skills of Remember, Analyze, and Evaluate. In these three aspects, its learning effect is no less than the student-centered case teaching. However, due to the lack of specific application training, traditional classroom teaching methods do not allow students to understand the basic concepts more deeply. Students’ ability of association and innovation has not been fully trained. This is reflected in students’ difficulty in applying what they have learned to solve complex engineering problems.

Student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion provide students with an environment and opportunity to carry out specific application training, which help students actively explore and understand basic concepts, and apply the knowledge learned to practical engineering problems. Compared with the traditional classroom teaching mode, student-centered case-based teaching mode can improve students’ enthusiasm and initiative in learning, and improve their ability to solve complex engineering problems. This is reflected in the improvement of three cognitive skills: Understand, Apply, and Create.

Digital image processing is a highly theoretical and practical course. When using the case-based teaching method, the physical concepts and meanings behind mathematical formulas should be emphasized in classroom teaching, and the methods and principles should be explained thoroughly. We try to let students truly grasp the theoretical principles and understand engineering applications through the introduction of engineering cases. The main characteristics of our student-centered case-based teaching are as follows.

Using cases as the main content of teaching

At present, the digital image processing teaching materials used in this course cannot fully meet the needs of postgraduate teaching, and we do not find a better alternative textbook. Therefore, changing the main teaching content from textbook to cases is a solution. In our student-centered case-based teaching, cases are the main content of teaching. This method stimulates learning interest of students. Students can deepen their understanding of knowledge in the process of solving engineering problems.

Adopting a case-based teaching method

Knowledge points of the textbook are guided by the needs of engineering applications. The knowledge points are presented to students in the way of interconnected applications, so that students can discover and master knowledge in the practice process of solving-problems.

Student-centered teaching design

Through case-based teaching, the student-centered teaching design is truly realized. The student-centered learning approach not only allows students to choose what to learn, but also to choose how to learn.

Online and offline case discussions

Case discussion promotes knowledge construction through the process of shared exploration. Case discussion is the key to the success of case-based teaching. In the teaching method we designed, the case discussions can be transferred to online, and the real-time synchronous discussions can be transferred to the online asynchronous discussions.

Compared with the traditional teaching mode, the student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussions proposed in this paper have achieved the following improvements in the teaching of postgraduate courses of computer science.

Students have a deeper and better understanding of the digital image processing course. The case-based learning model enables personalized learning by using offline-online hybrid approaches, supported by expanded learning options and multiple case resources (Jevne et al.,  2021 ; Yoon et al.,  2021 ). Through case-based teaching, they have fully realized the importance and practicability of this course.

Through the student-centered case-based teaching method, the boring knowledge teaching is replaced by the flexible and diverse case teaching, which arouses learning enthusiasm and interest of students. The study found that students can organize their learning process, and students’ time management flexibility and flexibility content are quite high, which were stated in the literature (Endedijk et al.,  2016 ; Turan et al.,  2022 ).

Teaching effect is improved. Students’ theoretical level, practical level, ability of analyze and solve problems, innovative thinking mode and literature reading level are improved to a certain extent. This result can be confirmed by the comparison of examination scores of the three groups (Fig.  7 ) and the learning behavior comparison of the two groups (Fig.  6 ). Empirical studies on how students learn, including brain development, motivation, creativity, perseverance, self-regulation, knowledge application, etc., also confirm the effectiveness of student-centered learning approaches (Goodell & Thai,  2020 ).

Students’ horizons are broadened. Students can understand the knowledge structure and problem-solving methods of different disciplines and courses, and fully realize the advantages of interdisciplinary learning. In case-based learning, there is a need to relate prior knowledge within and between disciplines to external lived experiences. In the process, students are trained in critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills and strategies (Jung,  2013 ).

Teaching level of teachers is improved. After the introduction of the student-centered case-based teaching method, the teaching process is no longer completely based on textbooks. Teachers need to think more about the selection and design of cases. This process deepens teachers’ understanding of the curriculum and improves teachers’ knowledge structure. Student-centered case-based teaching can help teachers update teaching concepts, improve teaching methods, and continuously improve teaching levels in subsequent teaching. In student-centered teaching, teachers need to solve problems in communication between students and teachers so that students can receive correct feedback when they need it. Therefore, the teaching management ability of teachers has also been improved (Yan et al.,  2021 ).

Graduate students of science and engineering usually focus on engineering applications and practices. It is difficult to achieve teaching goals by completely adopting teacher-centered classroom teaching. Case-based teaching can greatly improve the teaching effect. By constructing a case library and integrating the latest engineering cases into teaching, students can better understand the practical application of theoretical knowledge, and generate strong interest in learning and research. We practice the student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion in a digital image processing course for graduate students in computer science, and propose an actionable case-based teaching scheme. Case-based teaching is a systematic project. In addition to the construction of a case library and the introduction of cases in teaching, it also involves a series of problems, such as the adjustment of teaching plans and the changes of assessment methods. There are still many aspects of case-based teaching that need to be explored and perfected. Through the verification of actual teaching, the student-centered case-based teaching can stimulate learning enthusiasm and interest of students, and help them to cultivate innovative thinking modes and practical abilities. The joint hypotheses test is used to analyze whether there are significant differences in the knowledge and ability levels of students in different learning modes. The F -test results show that, in three aspects (Understand, Apply, and Create), our teaching method shows a very significant improvement over the traditional teaching method.

Availability of data and materials

The data of this study is not open to the public due to participant privacy.

Abbreviations

• Case-based learning

Epistemic network analysis

Self-regulated learning

Coronavirus disease 2019

Pproblem based learning

Artificial intelligence

Non-destructive testing

Aartificial neural network

Support vector machine

Deep convolutional neural network

Recurrent neural network

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This research was supported by the Key scientific and technological project (222102310090) and the Postgraduate Education Reform and Quality Improvement Project (YJS2022AL098 and YJS2022JD26).

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Zhang, X., Zhang, B. & Zhang, F. Student-centered case-based teaching and online–offline case discussion in postgraduate courses of computer science. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 20 , 6 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-022-00374-2

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Study Shows How Higher Education Supports Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Students Through Culturally Relevant Courses, Programs, and Research

Analysis of minority-serving institutions on the East and West Coasts demonstrates layered processes to build students’ capacities

The model minority myth paints a picture of Asian Americans as a monolithic group with unparalleled success in academics. A new NYU study unpacks this myth, exploring the needs of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students and how higher education institutions support these populations.

In 2007, Congress established a federal designation for higher education institutions that enroll at least 10 percent of undergraduate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) students, and who enroll a significant proportion of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This designation as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) was among one of the newest categories of minority-serving institutions that receive federal funding to advance educational equity and support for ethnic and racial minorities.

In a two-site case study, Mike Hoa Nguyen , assistant professor of education at NYU Steinhardt, collected data from interviews, internal and public university documents, and observations of activities, courses, and meetings to determine the process in which AANAPISI programs expand students’ capacities through culturally relevant coursework, mentorship, research, and civic engagement. His findings are published in The Review of Higher Education .

“AANAPISIs demonstrate a federal commitment to supporting the unique educational needs of AA&NHPI students, which are too often obscured by the model minority myth,” said Nguyen. “This myth dangerously asserts that Asian American students, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students by association, are universally successful and unparalleled in their academic achievements. AANAPISIs play a major role in addressing this problem, and in doing so, provide critical resources to uplift the students they serve. This study documents the process in which these colleges and universities engage in this important work.”

Nguyen's study centered on a large, public community college on the West Coast and a large, urban, regional public university on the East Coast. Nguyen’s findings related to the experiences of students in these programs.

He uncovered a five-tiered process that the two institutions use to build opportunities for learning, practice, and engagement:

AA&NHPI Focused Coursework At both institutions, courses focused on these populations are offered through the institutions’ Asian American Studies programs, where students are exposed to concepts connected to their racial and ethnic identities. One student shared her experience with a course, Asian Women in the United States, “Through my experience with that class I learned…for the first time, issues that affected my community. Specifically, me as an Asian American woman, specifically Vietnamese American…”

Teaching and Mentoring Students who had previously taken AA&NHPI coursework provided tutoring and mentoring to support new students with classwork, programs, books, and scholarship applications.  According to one mentor, “Cambodian Americans fall through the cracks, we’re just not in higher ed…It’s not a supportive space for us…[the AANAPISI faculty] understand…from their own community work, from being on campus, and [from] teaching for so long that…when they find students who fit these demographics it makes sense for them to mentor them.”

Advanced AA&NHPI Focused Coursework After serving as mentors, students often take more advanced courses focused on theoretical, historical, and contemporary issues regarding the AA&NHPI experience to continue their academics while gaining tools to make larger contributions toward their communities. 

Academic and Research Development Students who complete advanced coursework are provided opportunities to engage in academic projects and research with faculty and staff, presenting research at conferences or publishing in peer-reviewed journals. 

Professional and Community Experience The final step in the process offers opportunities for students to engage in community-based projects, internships, and employment with partner organizations, government offices, or other schools. A student shared that his research experience led to the creation of a Vietnamese American organizing and training program. “[Researchers] found out that Vietnamese Americans in [the neighborhood] don't participate in civics or politics…they basically feel disenfranchised, like their vote doesn’t matter…So, the research showed that there needs to be an organization to help push and provide opportunities to talk about politics in a Vietnamese American progressive context…”

“AANAPISIs are the backbone for AA&NHPI students in higher education. These institutions account for six percent of all colleges and universities, yet enroll over 40 percent of all AA&NHPI undergraduates,” said Nguyen. “This study offers new understandings of the critical role that AANAPISIs play to expand educational opportunity and enrich learning experiences—which can be adopted beyond AANAPISIs and for other students—as well as inform the work of policymakers as they seek new solutions to refine and regulate the administration of minority-serving institutions.”

Funding for this study was provided by the UCLA Institute of American Cultures and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. 

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Engaging students in the feedback process

Peter Puxon, Academic Communication Centre (IoE) and Dr Peter Bratby Natural Sciences (MAPS), explain how they put feedback at the centre of the learning process.

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Watch the video on MediaCentral . Download the transcript [docx] . 

Emphasise learning-focused feedback

We all want to improve the way that feedback is delivered, understood and acted upon. But it can be a challenge, especially when feedback is ‘transmission-focussed’: only concerned with teachers’ comments and evaluation.

To change this, we can introduce more ‘learning-focused’ feedback into our teaching, which continually makes the point that feedback is a learning opportunity.

We believe that feedback is effective when students are receptive, when they understand their assessments’ expectations and when they share responsibilities for the feedback process. So, it is important to incorporate activities which develop students’ understanding of feedback as feedback for learning, rather than feedback on learning.

Design feedback for learning into the curriculum

In our case, the module convenor, an academic communication lecturer and postgraduate teaching assistants redesigned the curriculum of our 3rd Year Natural Sciences Literature Review Module. In this module, students are assessed on a 3,000-word literature review and a five-minute presentation.

To help students develop the skills to produce this work, they attend interactive sessions on a fortnightly basis, which are led by postgraduate teaching assistants (PGTAs).To meaningfully engage students with feedback, some sessions contained activities aimed at:

• increasing assessment literacy
• developing shared responsibilities
• managing affectstudents’ emotional responses to feedback).

Increase assessment literacy

Assessment literacy is the ability to understand the purpose and processes of assessment, and accurately judge one’s own work.

To improve accurate judgement, students in our module completed a early in the course. We also provided high-scoring literature reviews from previous students together with marker feedback, and a genre analysis task with an example literature review. In the fortnightly sessions, students were encouraged to share drafts of their work with their peers, and they had the opportunity to clarify terminology in the marking criteria with the PGTAs. Finally, students presented a draft version of their presentation to a small group of peers with guidance from their tutor. The students then shared critical feedback with each other.

Develop shared responsibilities

Students need to be aware that the responsibility for feedback does not lie exclusively with educators. Instead, a culture of shared responsibility for giving and receiving feedback should be developed.

We incorporated several tasks designed to help develop this culture. Early in our module, students completed a supervision plan in which the supervisor and student decided how and when feedback should be provided. In addition, students examined supervisor feedback on a previously submitted literature review.

They discussed the quality of feedback with guiding questions:

• Is this effective feedback?
• What would improve this feedback?
• What advice would you give to the supervisor on giving effective feedback?

As a result, the students were more aware of what would constitute effective feedback for them. So, when students submitted their first draft of their review with an they could better articulate their feedback needs. First students commented on the staff-designed criteria, then they proposed changes which were negotiated with staff. The intention here was to clarify assessment expectations and to give a sense of ownership in the assessment process.

Manage students’ emotional responses to feedback

Ideally, we want our students to manage their emotional responses and avoid defensiveness when receiving critical feedback. This requires establishing a trusting and caring atmosphere, but it also requires that students take responsibility for their emotional responses and develop effective strategies for dealing with feedback.

We used the fortnightly sessions to help students develop these strategies. First, PGTAs shared examples of critical feedback they had received from their supervisors, and talked about how they handled this experience. Second, the students had a feedback before they completed their assignment. Lastly, the students discussed a number of provided student comments (e.g., ‘I think it is so hard to take on feedback on board, as you've got your own specific writing style and you're so stuck in your way’), and why they thought the student felt that way.

An ongoing dialogue about feedback is key

Throughout the module, we explicitly made students aware that active engagement with the feedback process was an organising principle. This meant that as well as all the activities listed above, the importance of feedback literacy became an ongoing dialogue between students, PGTAs, lecturers and supervisors.

Students may require a lot of encouragement to change from an assessment-focussed to a feedback-focussed mindset, so embed feedback-related activities throughout your teaching.

Further reading

• Carless, D. and Boud, D. (2018) The Development of Student Feedback Literacy: Enabling Uptake of Feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 43(8), 1315–1325. doi:10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354.
• Evans, C. (2016) Enhancing assessment feedback practice in higher education: The EAT framework. Southampton: University of Southampton, UK
• Nash, R.A., and Winstone, N. E. (2017) Responsibility-sharing in the giving and receiving of assessment feedback, Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1519

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Examining the Virtual Leadership of Leaders in Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study

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Students’ Sense of Belonging Matters: Evidence from Three Studies

On Thursday, February 16, we hosted Dr. Maithreyi Gopalan to discuss her latest research on how students’ sense of belonging matters.

• Evidence has shown that in certain contexts, a student’s sense of belonging improves academic outcomes, increases continuing enrollment, and is protective for mental health. In some of the studies presented, these correlations were still present beyond the time frame of the analysis, suggesting that belonging might have a longitudinal effect.
• Providing a more adaptive interpretation of challenge seemed to help students in a belonging intervention make alternative and more adaptive attributions for their struggles, forestalling a potential negative impact on their sense of belonging.

Professor Gopalan began her talk by discussing how the need for “a sense of belonging” has been identified as a universal and fundamental human motivation in the field of psychology. John Bowlby, one of the first to conduct formal scientific research on belonging, examined the effects on children who had been separated from their parents during WWII (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). From his pioneering work, Bowlby and colleagues proposed that humans are driven to form lasting and meaningful interpersonal relationships, and the inability to meet this need results in loneliness and mental distress. Educational psychologists adapted the concept of belonging to indicate how students’ sense of fit with themselves and with their academic context can affect how they perceive whether they can thrive within it (Eccles & Midgley, 1989; Eccles & Roeser, 2011).

After providing this brief overview of what belonging means more broadly, Dr. Gopalan introduced the concept of “belonging uncertainty” pioneered by social psychologists Geoffrey Cohen and Gregory Walton at Stanford University (Walton & Cohen, 2007) to describe the uncertainty students might feel about their belonging when entering a new social and academic situation , which is most pronounced during times of transition (e.g., entering college). Research has shown that belonging uncertainty affects how students make sense of daily adversities, often interpreting negative events as evidence for why they do not belong. Belonging uncertainty may result in disengagement and poor academic outcomes. In contrast, a sense of belonging is associated with academic achievement, persistence in the course, major, and college (Walton & Cohen, 20011, Yeager & Walton, 2011). It is the concept of belonging uncertainty that is the focus of Dr. Gopalan’s presentation, with emphasis on the findings from the following key research questions:

• How do students’ sense of belonging in the first year correlate with academic persistence and outcomes at a national level?
• Can belonging interventions during the first semester of college lead to increased persistence and academic achievement in a diverse educational setting?
• How does a student’s sense of belonging amidst the COVID-19 pandemic correlate with mental health?

Study 1: College Students’ Sense of Belonging: A National Perspective (Gopalan & Brady, 2019)

Most research examining college students’ sense of belonging has come from studies looking at one or a few single four-year institutions. To examine how belonging differs across student identities and institutions, Professor Gopalan and colleagues looked at the responses from the only nationally representative survey of college students to date that had measured belonging. The Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) (Dudley et al ., 2020) sampled first-time beginning college students from 4070 eligible two- and four-year institutions (N= 23, 750 students), surveyed during their first year and subsequently two years later.

Professor Gopalan examined average measurements of belonging across institution type and student characteristics (Gopalan & Brady, 2019) and associations between belonging measurements and measurements of academic achievement, including GPA and persistence (continued enrollment), self-reported mental health, and self-reported use of campus services. The results, Dr. Gopalan explained, were striking: underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students (URMs) and first-generation/low-income students (FGLIs) reported a lower sense of belonging in four-year colleges than their non-URM and non-FGLI counterparts. 1 Importantly, they also found that having a greater sense of belonging is associated with higher academic performance, persistence, and is protective for mental health in year three of students’ undergraduate trajectory, suggesting that belonging might have a longitudinal effect (Gopalan & Brady, 2019). These findings were consistent with previous results from smaller studies involving single institutions. Sense of belonging is important not just in specific institutions but nationally, and social identity and context matter . One practical and policy-driven takeaway from this study is that only one national data set currently measures students’ sense of belonging using a single item. More robust measurements and large data sets might reveal additional insights into the importance of belonging for students’ educational experiences.

1 At two-year colleges, first-year belonging is not associated with persistence, engagement, or mental health. This suggests that belonging may function differently in two-year settings. More work is ongoing to try to understand the context that might be driving the difference. (Deil-Amen, 2011).

Study 2: A customized belonging intervention improves retention of socially disadvantaged students at a broad-access university (Murphy et al ., 2020)

Professor Gopalan and colleagues wanted to understand how to adapt existing belonging interventions to different educational contexts and dig deeper into underlying psychological processes underpinning belonging uncertainty. Because previous social-belonging interventions were conducted in well-resourced private or public institutions, Professor Gopalan was interested in examining whether the positive effects of belonging interventions could be extended to a broader-access context (context matters as not all extensions of belonging interventions have been shown to reproduce persistent changes in enrollment and academic outcomes). For this purpose, the traditional belonging interventions were customized for a four-year, Hispanic-serving public university with an 85% commuter enrollment using focus groups and surveys. Based on prior research, belonging interventions provide an adaptive lay theory for why students encounter challenges during transition times (Yeager et al ., 2016). Students, particularly those with little knowledge of how college works or those who have experienced discrimination, or are aware of negative stereotypes about their social group, may make global interpretations of why college can be challenging and may even associate challenges as evidence that they and students like them don’t belong. With belonging interventions, the lay theory provided to students aims to frame the experience of challenge in more adaptive ways—challenge and adversity are typical experiences, particularly during transitional moments, and should be expected; adapting academically and socially takes time—students will be more likely to persist, seek out campus resources and develop social relationships.

• They acknowledge that challenges are expected during transitions and that these are varied.
• They communicate to students that most students, including students from non-minority groups, experience similar challenges and feelings about them.
• They communicate that belonging is a process that takes time and tends to increase over time
• They use student examples of challenges and resolutions.

The Intervention

All students in the first-year writing class were randomly assigned to either the belonging group or an active control group. The intervention was provided to first-year students in their writing class and consisted of a reading and writing assignment about social and academic belonging. The control group was given the same assignment but with a different topic, study skills. In the intervention group, students read several stories from a racially diverse set of upper-level students who reflected on the challenges of making friends and adjusting to a new academic context. The hypothetical students reflected on the strategies they used, the resources they accessed, and how the challenge dissipated over time. After the reading exercise, the students in the intervention group were instructed to write about how the readings echoed their own first-year experiences. Then, they were asked to write a letter to future students who might question their belonging during their transition to college. Research has shown that written reflections help students internalize the main messages of the belonging intervention (Yeager & Walton, 2011).

Similar to previously published belonging interventions, results in persistence and academic achievement were significant for minoritized groups in the belonging cohort:

• Persistence. Compared to the control group, continuous enrollment for URM & FGLI students increased by 10% one year after and 9% two years after the intervention.
• Performance. The non-cumulative GPA from the URM & FGLI students increased by 0.19 points the semester immediately following the intervention and by 0.11 over the next two years compared to students in the control group.

Immediately following the intervention, a selected sub-sample of students in both conditions was invited to take a daily diary survey for nine consecutive days. The daily diary survey assessed students’ daily positive and negative academic and social experiences (students were asked to report and describe three negative and three positive events that they faced daily and to rate how positive and negative the events were), as well as their daily sense of social and academic belonging. The daily-diary assignment revealed another interesting finding: the intervention did not change the overall perception of negative events. URM & FGLI students in both groups had a statistically similar daily-adversity index and reported the same number of daily adverse events on average. However, there was no connection between the adversity index and sense of belonging for students in the belonging cohort. In contrast, students in the control group evidenced a negative correlation between daily adversities and belonging: “the greater adversity disadvantaged students experienced on a day, the lower their sense of social and academic fit” (Murphy et al ., 2020).

Providing a more adaptive interpretation of challenge seemed to help students in the belonging condition make alternative and more adaptive attributions for their struggles that did not connect to their sense of belonging. A follow-up survey one year after the intervention showed that minoritized students in the belonging intervention continued to report a higher sense of belonging in comparison to their counterparts in the control group.

Study 3: College Student’s Sense of Belonging and Mental Health Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic (Gopalan et al ., 2022)

Dr. Gopalan presented the third study, which turned out to provide a unique opportunity to assess whether sense of belonging had predictive effects on mental health. In the fall of 2019, researchers sent a survey to students at a large, multicampus Northeastern public university called the College Relationship and Experience survey (CORE), which included two questions about belonging, among other items. In the Spring of 2020, after students were sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a variation of the same survey was sent to students who had taken the CORE survey. After controlling for pre-COVID depression and anxiety, Dr. Gopolan and colleagues found that students who reported a higher sense of belonging in the fall of 2019 had lower rates of depression and anxiety midst-COVID pandemic , with the effects on depression more strongly predictive than those for anxiety. The correlation between a lower sense of belonging and higher rates of depression and anxiety was also found to be strongest for first-year students, who had little time during their first year to build community and adjust to college before the pandemic hit.

Dr. Gopalan concluded with some practical advice for instructors: “Stop telling students they belong, show them instead that they belong,” citing a recent op-ed from Greg Walton . We do this by modeling the idea that belonging is a process that takes time and by communicating to students that they are not alone , which can be done through sharing our own experiences with belonging, and by allowing students space to hear the experiences of their peers and learn from one another.

• Classroom Practices Library which includes Overview: Effective Social Belonging Messages are more.
• The Project for Education Research That Scales (PERTS) : a free belonging intervention for four-year colleges and universities.
• Research library on belonging
• Article on Structures for Belonging: A Synthesis of Research on Belonging-Supportive Learning Environments
• “Stop telling students ‘You Belong!’”
• Everyone is talking about belonging: What does it really mean?
• Post-secondary
• Academic Belonging : introduction to the concept and practices that support it.
• Flipping Failure : a campus-wide initiative to help students feel less alone by hearing stories about how their peers coped with academic challenges

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117 (3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497

Deil-Amen, R. (2011). Socio-academic integrative moments: Rethinking academic and social integration among two-year college students in career-related programs. The Journal of Higher Education , 82(1), 54-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2011.11779085  

Dudley, K., Caperton, S.A., and Smith Ritchie, N. (2020). 2012 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12) Student Records Collection Research Data File Documentation (NCES 2021-524). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 2/27/2023 from https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid-2021524

Eccles, J. S., & Midgley, C. (1989). Stage/Environment Fit: Developmentally Appropriate Classrooms for Early Adolescence. In R. E. Ames, & Ames, C. (Eds.), Research on Motivation in Education , 3, 139-186. New York: Academic Press.

Eccles, J. S., & Roeser, R. W. (2011). Schools as developmental contexts during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21 (1), 225–241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00725.x

Gopalan, M., & Brady, S. T. (2020). College Students’ Sense of Belonging: A National Perspective. Educational Researcher , 49(2), 134–137. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19897622

Gopalan, M., Linden-Carmichael, A. Lanza, S. (2022). College Students’ Sense of Belonging and Mental Health Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic, Journal of Adolescent Health , 70(2), 228-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.10.010

Murphy, M.C., Gopalan, M., Carter, E. R., Emerson, K. T. U., Bottoms, B. L., and Walton, G.M., (2020). A customized belonging intervention improves retention of socially disadvantaged students at a broad-access university Science Advances, 6(29). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba4677

Walton, & Cohen. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.82

Walton, G.M., & Cohen, G.L. (2011). A Brief Social-Belonging Intervention Improves Academic and Health Outcomes of Minority Students. Science,  331(6023), 1447-1451.  DOI: 10.1126/science.1198364

Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (2011). Social-Psychological Interventions in Education They’re Not Magic. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 267–301. http://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311405999

Yeager, D.S., Walton G.M., Brady, S.T., Dweck, C.S.,(2016). Teaching a lay theory before college narrows achievement gaps at scale, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences , 113(24), E3341-E3348. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524360113

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