Monday, October 19, 2009       |       9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon       |       McCormick Place S106

Case studies can enliven a lecture course or be the entire basis for a discussion-based course. In this workshop, we'll demonstrate how to teach a case, give tips on what works well, and hear from three faculty members who use cases to teach at different levels: Jeanette Norden (Vanderbilt), basic medical neuroscience; Bill Meil (IUP), undergraduate courses; Kurt Illig (Virginia), graduate courses. Each speaker will present his or her goals for teaching a course using cases, several of the specific cases they use, an overview of their full set of cases, and their observations and useful tips about teaching with case studies. We'll end with one-minute contributions from the audience, and breakout groups.

The workshop is open to graduate students, postdocs, and faculty at every level of teaching experience. There is no fee or preregistration.

SCHEDULE:

9:00

Demonstration of teaching a case and general tips on teaching with cases

Richard Olivo                                                    PREVIEW THE CASE           TIPS & RESOURCES

9:45

Teaching basic neuroscience to medical students with cases

Jeanette Norden

10:15

Using cases in undergraduate courses

William Meil

10:45

Using cases in a graduate course

Kurt Illig

11:15

"One minute" contributions from the audience

Bring your ideas!

11:30

Breakout groups

Informal conversations among faculty teaching similar courses.

The workshop's handout is available as a PDF file.

PANELISTS:

Richard Olivo (Smith College and Harvard University, workshop organizer)

Professor of Biological Sciences and member of the Program in Neuroscience, Smith College; from 1996-2009, Associate Director, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University. Dr. Olivo proposed the first neuroscience teaching workshop in 2005, and has organized workshops at each Annual Meeting since then. He is the developer of "MacRetina," and the author of a deep website for an undergraduate neurophysiology laboratory course. He was named "Educator of the Year" in 2005 by Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience. Email: rolivo@email.smith.edu.

Jeanette Norden (Vanderbilt University)

Professor and Director of Medical Education in in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, School of Medicine, and Professor of Neurosciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Norden has received a number of teaching awards, including the Shovel Award, given by the graduating class to the faculty member who has had the most positive influence on them in their four years of medical school, the Jack Davies Award for teaching excellence in the basic sciences, the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, and the Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award from the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and the Association of American Medical Colleges. She was the first recipient of both the Teaching Excellence Award given by the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the University Chair of Teaching Excellence at Vanderbilt. Email: jeanette.norden@vanderbilt.edu.

William M. Meil (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)

Associate Professor of Psychology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana PA. His interests include changes in frontal lobe function during recovery from drug addiction, the neural basis of drug abuse and addiction, substance abuse and treatment in rural areas, and influences on peoples' attributions regarding the causes of addictive behavior and disease. Dr Meil is the author of The Use of Case Studies in Teaching Undergraduate Neuroscience in the spring 2007 issue of the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education. Email: meil@iup.edu.

Kurt R. Illig (University of St. Thomas and University of Virginia)

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Neuroscience Program, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul MN; formerly Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Dr. Illig's research focuses on understanding how sensory information is associated with behavioral significance in cortical structures, and how these representations change with experience. Email: krillig@gmail.com.