Prelude to the Case

This “clicker case” was designed for introductory biology courses (college-level or high school) and comes with a Power Point slide show along with embedded clicker questions. The case centers around students defining the characteristics of living organisms and applying these to living, nonliving, and previously living objects. In addition to the slides, students generate a list of life characteristics for use in the case. The case uses a fictional scenario in which the President of the United States must decide whether to announce that NASA has discovered extraterrestrial life. However, NASA is unsure as to how to define their discovery. The case can be run as a mini introduction to the topic or as a full lecture period exercise.

The case is called a clicker case because it was designed to be presented in a class that uses personal response systems, better known as “clickers.” The case study is presented in class via PowerPoint, with multiple-choice questions sprinkled throughout the “lecture.” Students are expected to answer the questions as they arise using their clickers. Many instructors allow students to consult with their neighbor before clicking in their answer. The entire approach encourages student participation even in the largest of classes. The use of clickers in combination with case studies is described in greater detail in the article “Clicker” Cases: Introducing Case Study Teaching Into Large Classrooms.

Date Posted: November 26, 2008.