Problem Solving in the Biosciences: Case Study Guidelines

We invite case studies of problem solving from practitioners of all bioscience disciplines.  Excellent examples of the approach we would welcome are included in the report Developing Problem Solving Skills in Bioscientists. The case studies will be published and disseminated through our web site.

We would like you to write about your teaching practice with enough detail to allow colleagues to ‘do-it-themselves’. For this reason we have not defined any word limit for each heading but envisage a maximum of ~2000 words for each case study. Shorter case studies are welcome, as is additional material in the form of appendices.

Case studies are subject to copyediting for grammar, style and format by the UK Centre for Bioscience.

Authors will receive a remuneration of £100 for each commissioned case study (max 2 per person) that is completed and accepted by the editors.

First come, first served!  We will accept a maximum of ten case studies in this first phase of funding

Use the headings below as a guide of how to structure your case study

2) Author(s):

3) Department and Institution:

4) Background reasons for doing what you have done (please include details of the course/unit/module, level and programme and intended learning outcomes).

5) ‘How to do it’ – a detailed description of the problem and how it might be solved (please ensure that this section is written so that staff elsewhere can take the central elements from your practice).

6) Tips/things to look out for (what is the key advice you would give someone using the case study for the first time?).

7) What problems/issues have arisen? – include advice on troubleshooting.

8) Does it work? (in your view what are the strengths of the approach? - what evidence can you provide to demonstrate its success e.g. data from feedback, peer response?)

9) Further developments (are you planning change to change the approach in any way?).

10) Details of support material (any material that you think would help others, e.g. the detailed instructions you give students, can be attached as a separate file).

11) Relevant references (to published articles/websites, authored by you or others, that describe the method).

12) Acknowledgements.

Please return as an email attachment to David Adams at: d.j.adams@leeds.ac.uk

Download guidelines as a pdf