The Department of Agricultural Education
The University of Arizona
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The Department of Agricultural Education
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Teaching with Case Studies TEACHING NOTE `1The Education of Three Farm Hands Case Objectives Upon completion of this case, students will be able to... 1. understand the value of a case study to a variety of course offerings. 2. discuss the various components involved in the development of a good case study. 3. develop simple case studies for use in their respective classes. Uses of the Case The case can be assigned to small groups for discussion and exchanging ideas before debriefing in a large group. These groups may be asked to consider one or more of the questions listed below. Teachers might also incorporate written or oral communications exercises within their case teaching strategy. Questions for Discussion 1. From the point of view of Henry Hanks, what did the farm hands do to upset his livelihood? 2. From the point of view of the county sheriff, what concern should he have over the disappearance of these three men? 3. Explain whether or not you believe that Dorothy had an out of body experience? 4. What values can be attached to Dorothy's experience as she related it to the three farm hands? 5. Why would the three farm hands want to continue their education at this point? 6. What logical steps would they take to achieve that goal? 7. Based on what you know about these men, do you believe the inheritance would be important to them? ...enough to cause them to leave? 8. What lessons can be learned from this case? Enrichment Activities The following ideas are intended to be student-centered activities that could enhance and complement discussions about the case. v Students role-play the parts of the three farm hands and their discussion with Dorothy after she hit her head.v Watch video clips of the movie to determine more about the likes and dislikes of the three farm hands.v Have students utilize the internet to collect information on the three major universities in Arizona for comparison with the personalities of the three farm hands.v Utilize the steps below to show educators how to utilize a simple case study:· Read the case individually.· Discuss what the case is about and why the issues raised might be important in a disciplinary or interdisciplinary course?· Define your educational objectives in using this case in a specific class. o Describe how you would assign the case to the students and what approach you would use to engage them in the case before discussing it in class.· Decide on an opening question that you would use to begin the whole class discussion of the case. What would you hope to achieve by using this question?· How would you have the students respond to the case and how would you assess what they had learned through the case experience?
The Education of Three Farm Hands Introduction Sometime in early 1934, three homeless men found work on the Henry Hanks farm. For the next five years they worked, played and cried along with the family that owned the farm. Their emotional attachments grew when the Hanks’ young niece, Dorothy, came to live on the farm. Times were hard and money was scarce. The farm hands were sometimes paid with produce rather than cash. Even so they were loyal employees, often remarking on the quality of Mrs. Hanks’ cookies. In the spring of 1939, one of the worst twisters on record ravaged the Hanks farm. During the storm Dorothy received a light concussion rendering her unconscious for several hours. When she awoke she regaled the entire family and crew about what seemed to be a very real experience for her. Shortly thereafter the entire crew—Zeke, Hunk, and Hickory disappeared. They left no word and absolutely no one knew where they had gone. Officials searched for evidence as to the men’s whereabouts to no avail. Foul play was suspected, but then dismissed due to lack of any concrete evidence. The dilemma at hand revolved around a surprise inheritance by one of the three men. The location of that individual had to be found in order to dispense the fortune. Background Zebediah (Zeke) Thomas was born in southern Illinois. Always looking for a way to achieve fame and fortune, Zeke left home at the age of 16. He worked his way across the country traveling with a wheat combining crew. It was a large outfit and Zeke made a good hand. Unfortunately, three days after his 17th birthday he watched a close friend slip and fall under the hooves of the twenty-mule hitch that ran the big machine. Unreasonable bouts of fear invaded Zeke’s life and soon he left the crew and went in search of a different calling. He spent ten years traveling around the country before settling in on the Hanks’ farm. Ray (Hunk) Andrews had been a city boy. He grew up in Chicago where his dad worked at one of the largest meat packing-houses in the world. One of seven children, Hunk greatly admired his oldest brother, Sam. Sam always said you could never get anywhere in this world unless you had a good education. Unfortunately, the Great Depression hit before Hunk graduated high school. In fact, he was forced to quit school and go to work to help support the family. Three years later with his three sisters married and his three brothers all employed, Hunk left Chicago to see more of the world—and get an education on the road. Jack (Hickory) Twicker, was born with a gift for carving wood. Like his father before him he apprenticed to become a great furniture maker. Unfortunately, there was little demand for quality furniture at the beginning of the Depression. Hickory was laid off of his job at the Louisville Hampton Furniture company. Two years later he was living at home with his widowed mother. Due to an unfortunate accident she passed on, leaving Hickory alone in the world. He decided to head west and seek his fortune. The Decision Officials must decide how to locate the men and if that proves impossible, to decide what to do with the inheritance.
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Competency: Using various methods to involve students in the teaching-learning process. Objectives:
What are Decision Cases? Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and /or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. The decision case is a synopsis of a real-life dilemma that remains unsolved to the reader. It is based on reality and therefore contains factual information. Decision cases are active learning processes centered on organizing discussion around the problem. In preparing to utilize cases in a specific class, several questions must be addressed:
Classroom Approaches Often teaching is turned into a performance where we feel we must be “the sage on the stage”. A major difference between teaching with decision cases and traditional approaches is that the teacher acts as a facilitator of the learning process rather than a performer. Case teaching is not easy. A teacher must be able to think ahead, reorganize and listen at the same time. Case teaching is not a rambling process without focus. The teacher must have a plan in mind before beginning the case discussion. Seldom are two decision case discussions the same. Preparing for Decision Case Discussions
Preparing a question outline Prepare a question outline to match the concept outline. Questioning is the single most important skill case teachers must develop. Questions should promote discussion about the concepts to be understood rather than solicit the correct answer. Most students have been trained to think there is only one right answer to a question. They think the teacher knows it and that they will be rewarded when they say it. This kind of mindset can kill case discussions. The best way to encourage creative answers is to phrase questions that do not call for right answers. Teaching Socratically Only when answers generate further questions does thought remain alive. Only students who have questions are really thinking and learning. The quality of the questions we ask determines the quality of the thinking we do. Socratic questioning recognizes that questions, not answers, are the driving force in thinking.
Preparing for Decision Case Discussions Foundation questionsThere are five basic questions that serve as a foundation of case discussions:
It is helpful to think through these questions ahead of time and determine which points you would like to see discussed. Using a board outline An effective strategy for case teachers is to make use of the chalkboard to help organize discussions that may at times seem to be going off in many directions at once. By doing so, students will also have a chance to see their contributions to the discussion validated. Teachers can organize the outline by the key questions asked or by topic of the discussion. The Teaching Note may contain other options.
Arranging the Classroom Most classrooms are arranged in rows so that the teacher is the focal point; however, this physical setting can stifle effective case teaching. The ideal situation is to arrange the seats in a “U” or horseshoe shape so the students can easily see one another and the case teacher can get close to the students and move to the blackboard. Special recognition: These thoughts and examples were compiled from a variety of sources. Those sources include: Decision Cases for Secondary Educationt, Brakke, Dunrud, Peterson, Marla Reicks, & Simmons with Bakkum, Bowman, Pitzl, and Stanford (1994) . College of Agriculture , University of Minnesota, Critical Thinking Website—Foundation for Critical Thinking , Methods of Teaching Agriculture, Newcomb, McCracken and Warmbrod (1993) and The Power of Positive Teaching, McCormick (1994).
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Copyright © 2000 Department of Agricultural Education. All rights reserved.
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