The CASE Project: Evaluation of Case-Based Approaches to Learning and Teaching in Statistics Service Courses

ABSTRACT

The CASE project (Case-based Approaches to Statistics Education; see www.mas.ncl.ac.uk/∼nlf8/innovation) was established to investigate how the use of real-life, discipline-specific case study material in Statistics service courses could improve student engagement, motivation, and confidence. Ultimately, the project aims to promote deep learning of course material, with students from other disciplines being equipped with the skills to undertake independent quantitative analyses (for example, in their final year dissertations). In this article, I describe the case-based materials and associated activities, developed as part of this project, for first year Business undergraduates taking a compulsory course in quantitative methods. I also attempt to evaluate the success of the CASE project through a trial in which a randomly selected subgroup of students was exposed to case-based learning and teaching activities. After adjusting for nuisance factors, I found that students in this subgroup outperformed their peers who were not selected for case-based learning and teaching, in terms of their grades in both routine algorithmic homework exercises and more open-ended projects requiring problem-solving and interpretative skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Case-based learning and teaching
• Problem solving
• Statistics service courses

Acknowledgments

I thank the student interns—particularly Jack Aiston, Man Isha Kaur, Keith Newman, and Jamie Owen—for their assistance.

Funding

I would like to thank Newcastle University for funding the CASE project.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials, including an example case study (“The Beckham Effect”), questions to promote team discussions in case study tutorials, marking forms/rubric for awarding marks in case study tutorial group discussions, and the student case study questionnaire, can be found in the online version of the article and on the author's dedicated webpage (www.mas.ncl.ac.uk/∼nlf8/innovation).

Notes

¹ Numbas is a web-based e-assessment system developed at Newcastle University, United Kingdom, and is currently used in Universities, schools, colleges, and hospitals in the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, Denmark, Chile, Ireland, United States, Netherlands, and South Africa.