JoinAll Case Studies
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In keyword search, list the criteria you would like to find cases. Multiple criteria can be listed separated by commas (i.e. directed, high school)
Educational levels are defined as follows: Elementary, Middle, High School, College
Types of cases are defined as follows: Analysis/Issues, Clicker, Debate, Intimate Debate, Demonstration, Dilemma/Decision, Directed, Discussion, Interrupted, Jig-saw, Journal Article, Laboratory, Student Presentations, Mini-case, Problem-Based Learning, Public Hearing, Role-Play, Trial, Flipped, Game
By Philip J. Stephens
After undergoing a fertility procedure, a 37-year-old woman and her husband are expecting twins. The delivery goes smoothly, but it soon becomes apparent that, while the baby boy appears normal, the baby girl has a heart problem and is cyanotic. In t...
A Case of Seasonal Affective Disorder
By David F. Dean (rr)
“Melanie Johnson” is a 32-year-old accountant who has moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, from her hometown of Sarasota, Florida. For the first time in her life, she has been experiencing periods of depression, lethargy, and excessive sleeping. ...
By David F. Dean (rr)
“Rollie Hendrix,” a 35-year-old husband and father of three children, has been experiencing headaches and palpitations of increasing frequency and severity over the past six months. In addition, he has had periods of intense anxiety and panic att...
By David F. Dean (rr)
“Amanda Richards,” a 20-year-old junior in college, is majoring in biology and hopes to be a pediatrician one day. For about a month, she has been waking up frequently at night to go to the bathroom. Most recently, she has noticed that she needs ...
By Philip J. Stephens
In this interrupted case study, a middle-aged man is having his wisdom teeth surgically removed. He decides to have a general anesthetic, but is unaware of the reaction he will have to halothane. His skeletal muscles go rigid and his body temperature...
By Julia Omarzu
This case study involves a couple deciding whether or not their son should undergo brain surgery to treat a severe seizure disorder. In examining this dilemma, students apply knowledge of brain anatomy and function. They also learn about brain scanni...
By Angela Wisniewski, Thuy N. Nguyen, David Newberger
“Ed Cramer” is a 47-year-old mechanical engineer who is being treated for venous thromboembolism. He was 45 when he first developed a blood clot in the lower part of his left leg and had to be hospitalized for five days. A year later, he develope...
By Philip J. Stephens
The high school ice hockey team is playing the last of three games in one day. The game gets rough and Rick, the star player, is slammed against the boards. Injured, he has to be escorted from the ice. This interrupted case study follows Ricks ...
By Kari A. Mergenhagen
The parents of a six-week-old baby girl know there is something seriously wrong with their child, but it takes a number of frustrating visits to the pediatrician before they finally get a correct diagnosis. Once they do, the parents must decide wheth...
By Dayton J. Ford
A fight in a college town bar between the football player of one team and a drunken fan of a rival team results in a serious spinal cord injury. Students working in groups read the case and research the questions associated with it, which they then d...
Bad Fish: General Biology Edition
By James A. Hewlett
In this version, developed for a course in general biology, the protagonist of the case, Dr. Westwood, survives an accidental poisoning-not once, but twice. Students read about each incident, applying what they learn in each part of the case to the l...
Bad Fish: Human Anatomy and Physiology Edition
By James A. Hewlett
In this version, developed for a course in human anatomy and physiology, the protagonist of the case, Dr. Westwood, survives an accidental poisoning-not once, but twice. Students read about each incident, applying what they learn in each part of the ...
By Kari A. Mergenhagen
Although blind since childhood as the result of an accident, Lucy has never given up hope that one day she might see again. So, when her ophthalmologist tells her about a study being conducted at the University Medical Center that might help her rega...
By Dayton J. Ford
Alvin’s parents are worried about him. He has had a cough for almost a week, and he’s wheezing a lot more than they think is normal for a child with a cold, which is what their family pediatrician says he has. When they take him to the ER, howeve...
By Jennifer Lundmark
As an exhausted climbing expedition ascends a steep cliff, one climber in particular experiences severe difficulty breathing and quickly becomes the focus of this case study in which students are asked to assess the physiological changes that occur a...
By Lisa Marie Rubin, Clyde Freeman Herreid
The main character of this case is Denise, who we first meet in the early morning hours as she wakes up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. But it is her husband, Jeremy, who has been diagnosed with heart disease, not her. What’s going on? In this...
By Thomas A. Cappaert
While backpacking in the Canadian Rockies, Joel loses his way and finds that his experience hiking and camping in his home state of Florida hasn't prepared him for springtime weather conditions in the mountains. This case study allows students to rev...
By David L. Evans
Students learn about the interconnectedness of the body, with a particular focus on the skin as one of the most important homeostatic organ systems, in this case study in which the protagonist sets out on a three-hour drive across the Arizona desert ...
By Herbert House (rr)
This case is based on the real-life incident of a boy whose arm was bitten off by a bull shark while swimming off the coast of Florida in the summer of 2001. After the boy’s arm was retrieved from the shark’s mouth, it was surgically reattached....
By Tangi Mitchell, Cheryl L. Watson
In this two-part case study on the nervous system, students learn about neural pathways. The case scenarios are drawn from real life and require students to explain the physiological mechanisms at work. The first scenario is designed for freshmen lev...
By James A. Hewlett
This case involves the transfer of a food allergy to a patient who received a combined kidney and liver transplant from a donor who died as the result of an allergic reaction. In addition to learning about the various roles of immune cells, the physi...
By Lisa Marie Rubin, Clyde Freeman Herreid
This case teaches about the causes and effects of Type 2 diabetes by working through the various options available to a young Native American woman suffering from the disease. The case can be used in a variety of settings, including nutrition classro...
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
In chronicling the life and death of a woman who developed diabetes as a teenager, this case study explores such basic science topics as metabolism, hormones, cell receptors, eye anatomy, and immunology as well as issues in nutrition, exercise, stem ...
By Lisa Marie Rubin
This directed case study focuses on the physiology of bone homeostasis and methods of prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. One of the overall purposes of the case is to show students that osteoporosis is not simply a disease that afflicts elderl...
By Lisa Marie Rubin, Clyde Freeman Herreid
This problem-based case focuses on the female menstrual cycle and early stages of pregnancy of an unwed teenager. Working in small groups, students identify the learning issues for each part of the story and research answers to their questions. They ...
By Patrick R. Field, Thomas A. Cappaert
In this case study, students read about the injuries sustained by a young man hurt in a serious diving accident. To solve the case, they must determine the type of central nervous system injury described using their knowledge of the differences betwe...
By Alease S. Bruce
In this case study, a forensic anthropologist must determine the age and sex as well as look for signs of trauma to a skeleton found in a shallow grave in a state park. Students simulate the actual procedures used in a forensics lab and learn to iden...
By Nathan Strong
The physically demanding sport of competitive rowing is the backdrop for this case about homeostasis in which students follow the physiological changes that occur in an athlete competing in a 2000-meter race. The case was developed for use in a secon...
By Elizabeth Harper
This case encourages students to explore various aspects of alternative and complementary medicine that might be helpful in treating a woman who is suffering from scoliosis. The case was developed for use in a variety of settings, ranging from an int...
By Kim R. Finer
This case uses the real story of Dawn Langley Simmons, who may have been misidentified as male at birth, to illustrate the developmental basis of human sexual dimorphism and how gender misidentification may occur. Students also consider the emotional...
By M. Elizabeth Strasser
The setting for this case study is a paleontological dig in East Africa, where “Sam,” an American undergraduate student, has unearthed part of what appears to be an ancestral human skull. Students read the case story and then, in the lab, they ex...
Can a Genetic Disease Be Cured?
By Michael S. Hudecki (rr)
In this discussion case, parents must decide whether or not to enroll their sons in an experimental treatment program designed to alleviate the symptoms of muscular dystrophy. The case explores the genetics and physiology of the disease as well as th...