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35 Biological Sciences 1 Biotechnology 10 Chemistry 9 Accounting 1 Aviation Science 1 Business Administration 2 Chemistry and Biochemistry 3 Composition and Rhetoric 3 Economics 7 Education 5 English 3 Environmental Science 4 Faculty Development 2 Finance 1 Food and Resource Economics 1 Foreign Languages 2 Geography 1 Mechanical Engineering 1 Medical Education 1 Multidisciplinary 5 Nutrition 4 Nutrition and Dietetics 10 Physics and Astronomy 1 Plant and Soil Sciences 3 Political Science 7 Psychology 1 Public Policy 1 Research Design 1 Science Education 1 Sociology 1 Statistics 2 Women’s Studies
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13 Advanced (majors) 1 Any 22 Intermediate (majors and non-majors) 20 Intermediate (majors) 5 Intermediate (non-majors) 52 Introductory 1 Introductory (high school or college) 16 Introductory (majors and non-majors) 11 Introductory (majors) 1 Introductory (middle grade, gifted) 16 Introductory (non-majors) 1 Introductory (professors and teachers) 1 Introductory (science majors) 1 Introductory (variety of audiences) 2 Introductory (workshop participants)
Problem Library: 115
Title | Excerpt | Author | Discipline | Length | Level |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
“A Poem has a Life before it Gets into my Anthology?”: Manuscript Editing and Problem-Based Learning | Where does the poem you read in an anthology originate? Is the copy in your anthology a good copy of that original? | McKenna, Bernard | English | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
A Bad Day for Sandy Dayton | Designed to help non-science majors understand forces, motion, and mechanical energy while reconstructing a rear-end auto accident that occurs outside their classroom building. | Duch, Barbara | Physics and Astronomy | 6+ Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
A Case for Classics | The problem evokes an exploration of texts, which requires students to explore and discuss the texts within a collaborative framework in an effort to uncover how they are a product of setting and society at a certain point in history yet represent elements which make them valuable in contemporary times. | Kumar, Rita | English | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (non-majors) |
A Day in the Life of a World-Wide Intern | There is a major crisis in the Force, and your students have now been called into active duty to serve as interns in the World-Wide Legislation. | Vadino, Nicole | Sociology | 3-6 hours | Introductory |
A Day in the Life of John Henry, Traffic Cop | This problem introduces students to conservation of momentum while working through a two-dimensional automobile accident. | Duch, Barbara | Physics and Astronomy | 6+ Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
A Letter from Dalton | In this problem students must analyze mass data to test a hypothesis proposed by Dalton as a consequence of his postulates concerning the atomic nature of matter. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1 Hour or Less | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
A Missed Diagnosis | Students are asked to explain why the family physician made an incorrect initial diagnosis, as well as present a theory regarding a correct diagnosis. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
A Pain in the Belly | This problem aids students in the development of their three-dimensional understanding of abdominal anatomy, with particular emphasis paid to the peritoneum and G.I. vascular supply. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Alleviating the AIDS Crisis in South Africa | This problem examines some of the implications of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa and the possible approaches to alleviating it. | Bauer, Gretchen | Political Science | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Are You Sure I’ve Seen You Before? | Students are asked to correctly diagnose the patient and answer several related questions about the patient. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
Hosting an Exchange Student | Students will imagine that an exchange student from a Spanish-speaking country is coming to stay with the student’s family for a few weeks as part of a cultural exchange program. | Fees, Joseph | Foreign Languages | 3-6 hours | Any |
An Experiment in Using Plants to Get the Lead out | Phytoremediation is a technology for removing soil and groundwater contamination using plants. In this two-part problem students are given a brief case study to read about how phytoremediation had been successfully used to remove lead from soil at a former manufacturing site. | Homan, Michelle | Environmental Science, Research Design | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |
DNA for Dinner | The use of bioengineered food in quick service restaurants is controversial. | Lieux, Elizabeth | Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Faculty Development, Multidisciplinary, Nutrition | 3-6 hours | Introductory (variety of audiences) |
“How Will I Know if My Students Learned What They’re Supposed to?” – Curriculum Evaluation in the NCLB Era | In this problem designed for teacher education majors, students evaluate science curricula… | Ford, Danielle | Education | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
An Electric Idea | In this problem, students learn to describe the processes occurring in a classic metal displacement type redox reaction, differentiate between spontaneous and nonspontaneous redox processes, differentiate between voltaic and electrolytic cells, and predict voltages for electrochemical cells. | Lawrie, Ruth | Chemistry and Biochemistry | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (high school or college) |
An Unwanted Souvenir | Students are asked to develop a hypothesis as to a diagnosis of Ralph’s condition as well as answer anatomically-related and microbiology-related questions. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Athletics Problem | Students are asked to look at demographic data, height, and weight to determine if any relationship exists between the event athletes do and their demographic data. | Chamberlin, Scott | Statistics | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (middle grade, gifted students) |
Blankley Corporation: Pension Accounting | Having worked through the nine phases of the Blankley Corporation unfolding problem, students will be able to understand and perform the technical aspects of accounting for defined benefit plans. As the problem unfolds, the intricacy of the technical aspects of pension accounting increases. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Carbohydrate Mythology | Dylan has always struggled with his weight and has been told by his doctor that he needs to lose weight. A month ago Dylan started a fad diet that includes significantly reducing carbohydrate intake. | Benoit, Lindsay | Nutrition and Dietetics | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Cebu and Woodard Leases – A PBL Unfolding Problem | Having worked through the eight phases of the Cebu and Woodward unfolding PBL problem, students will be able to understand and perform the technical aspects of accounting for leases. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Challenges to Sustainability in the Developing World: Private Choices and Social Implications of Cotton Production in India | This problem examines the challenges of achieving sustainable development in a world of unintended consequences with a hypothetical example of cotton production in India. | Duke, Joshua | Environmental Science | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Cholera and the Science of Medicine | Students explore the essential nature of science processes of evidence, explanation, prediction, experimentation, and communication and how they are used by scientists. | Donham, Richard | Science Education | 3-6 hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Choosing a Teaching Text: James Joyce’s Ulysses | A major challenge for an instructor involves choosing the best available critical edition of a text for a class. Instructors must consider issues of authorial review, authorial intent, the corruption of editions published in the author’s lifetime, the introduction of editorial errors into the text, the review of manuscript material, and availability and readability of available editions. | McKenna, Bernard | English | 6+ Hours | Advanced (majors) |
Choosing Books to Support Elementary Girls’ Science Learning | In this problem designed for teacher education majors, students prepare a grant proposal to obtain trade books for elementary science curricula that will support girls’ science learning. | Ford, Danielle | Education | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Cognitive Neuroscience Case Creation | This “build a case” problem provides students with the opportunity to create their own case study from the ground up. | Miller, Antoinette | Psychology | 6+ Hours | Advanced (majors) |
Collaborating to Determine and Meet Student Needs | Teacher candidates work in small groups for these assignments. Each group is assigned an initial student scenario. | Hoyle, Carol | Education | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Crossed Circuits | Two roommates argue about each others use of energy. Which roommate should pay a utility premium? How much extra? | Watson, George | Physics and Astronomy | 1 Hour or Less | Introductory (non-majors) |
Daddy, Help! I Can’t Get out of the Pool! | Tammy, a 10 year-old girl, is normally active for her age, participating in her local soccer club (playing goalie) and swimming breaststroke on her country club’s swim team. Lately she has been experiencing pain in her left knee. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Dawn Treader Industries: Long-Term Construction Contracts | Having worked through the seven stages of the Dawn Treader Industries unfolding problem, students will be able to understand and perform the technical aspects of accounting for long-term construction contracts. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Dawn’s Eight O’clock | Absenteeism and tardiness can disrupt group function in PBL groups. | Harold White | Problem-based Learning | 1 Hour or Less | Introductory (workshop participants) |
Deflating Grady | Grade inflation poses a problem on many campuses and is an issue familiar to faculty regardless of their discipline. | White, Harold | Faculty Development | 3-6 hours | Introductory (workshop participants) |
Doc, is it my heart? | A 52-year-old black man presents to the emergency room with chest pains. The patient is agitated and apprehensive. He has a family history of heart disease and hypertension. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (non-majors) |
Does Anyone Know What’s Wrong with Me? | Molly is a nineteen-year-old, multiple-time All-American pole-vaulter on her college’s track team. During the summer, Molly trains for her event by pole vaulting twice a week and running three miles every other night. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Emotion and Memory: Bright Lights through Thick Fog | Students in introductory psychology courses must gain experience with the professional literature and the methods of psychological research. | Benander, Ruth | Psychology | 3-6 hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Examining & Practicing Genre & Rhetoric: Problem One–Joining the Global Union | This first problem of three sets up simulations of real-world scenarios and then asks students to think and write about them. | Skutar, Claudia | Composition and Rhetoric | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (non-majors) |
Examining & Practicing Genre & Rhetoric: Problem Three–Global Economic Conference | This is the third problem in a set of three. The first, by Claudia Skutar, involves students in developing a founding document. | Refaei, Brenda | Composition and Rhetoric | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (non-majors) |
Examining & Practicing Genre & Rhetoric: Problem Two–National Citizens Forum | This is the second problem in a set of three that sets up simulations of real-world scenarios and then asks students to think and write about them. | Kumar, Rita | Composition and Rhetoric | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (non-majors) |
Externalities and Managing a Common Property Resource | One difficulty in controlling pollution is that individuals and firms acting in their own best interest may produce aggregate behavior that is suboptimal for society. | Duke, Joshua | Food and Resource Economics | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Failed Scones | A request for help comes from a mother trying to solve her daughter’s baking dilemma—flopped scones. | Gross, Sandra | Nutrition and Dietetics | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Female Circumcision: The Flight of Kasinga | Female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, affects thousands of young girls and women in more than 30 countries worldwide (but primarily in Africa and portions of the Middle East). | Webber, Karen | Psychology, Women’s Studies | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Fifty Miles for My Fiftieth Birthday | Lincoln is a 50-year old runner who, over the past five years, has completed five one-half marathons and four marathons. He regularly runs six to seven days a week, totaling thirty to fifty miles per week. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Fire Chicken | Choi In Sung, 32-year-old male of Asian descent, presents to his family physician to seek treatment for chest pains. The patient appears frustrated and apprehensive. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Friend, Can You Spare a Kidney for Our Son Levon? | The issue of the shortage of transplantable kidneys is of growing significance and concern worldwide. In this multipart problem-based learning project, students are asked to approach the issue from an economic perspective. | Bieker, Richard | Economics | 6+ Hours | Introductory (majors) |
Gearding Construction Company: Accounting for Derivatives – Interest Rate Swaps | Students who have completed the six stages of the Gearding Construction Company PBL unfolding problem will have learned how to account for interest rate swaps under both hedge accounting and no-hedge accounting conditions. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Granny’s Hip | You stop over to visit your grandmother for your weekly visit to set out her medications for the coming week. As you enter her apartment, you find her lying on her back in severe pain. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Green’s Invasive Plant Dilemma | This problem is about a state representative who becomes aware of invasive plants in his own garden. He discovers the names of the plants and how they might have spread into his garden. | Barton, Susan | Plant and Soil Sciences | 3-6 hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Guide Map | How do you make a map useful to a blind person? In this problem, students first decide what needs to be included on a map. | Price, Alan Paul | Geography | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Harry Potter and the Walkabout | Most first year students are unfamiliar with all the opportunities and facilities that are available to them on a college campus. This staged-assignment problem is designed make students familiar with some of the academic, cultural, and extracurricular activities and events on their campus. | Ross, Dorry | English | 6+ Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Harvest Time Danger | Tom, a 36-year-old, right hand dominant male farmer, is involved in a farming accident that involves his right upper appendage. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 6+ Hours | Advanced (majors) |
Homecoming Surprise | This problem enables students to examine the results of soft-tissue injuries stemming from hyperflexion of the vertebral column as a result of an improper football tackle. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
I Gotta Get These Cross Countries Done! | The purpose of this Problem Based Learning exercise is to deepen the participants’ understanding of the weather and aeronautical decision-making. | Robinson, Saul | Aviation Science | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Internet-Certified Genius | Internet-based quizzes that purport to provide quick, valid IQ scores are quite popular and most students have either taken one or know someone who has. In this problem, this widespread interest in IQ scores is used to engage students in learning and communicating about the properties of the normal distribution. | Karpiak, Christie | Psychology | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors) |
Partnership Formation: Urban Decay | This problem is based upon the California court case: Holmes v. Lerner, 74 Cal.App.4th 442, 88 Cal.Rptr.2d 130 (1 Dist.1999). In that case, Sandra Lerner and Patricia Holmes met and became friends in 1993. | Ninassi, Susanne | Business Administration | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
The Carlsons’ Dilemma | This problem provides a setting in which students will be able to learn about capital budgeting concepts in a typical first course in Financial Management. | Narayanaswamy, Canchepuram | Finance | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors) |
To Resuscitate or Not to Resuscitate? | Patient rights are a basic value in healthcare. Adult patients of sound mind must be informed of their medical diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options, and the pros and cons of those options. | Polich, Susan | Medical Education | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors) |
Vehicle Fatalities in Delaware | This week-long, group-based activity explores policy-relevant information on vehicle fatalities in the state of Delaware. Students are provided external resources and a series of questions that prompt them to review the provided information critically and form an assessment of the problem, its primary causes, and possible solutions to address the problem. | Sarzynski, Andrea | Public Policy | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Protecting/Stealing the Trillion-Dollar Bill | This problem encourages students to investigate sensor integration as part of a mechatronics course in mechanical engineering. The intended sensor is a strain gauge, but other designs will work. | Mynderse, James | Mechanical Engineering | 6+ Hours | Advanced (majors) |
Simple Staged Problem for Introduction of PBL Process | For faculty development sessions there is often a need for a simple, staged problem that does not require investigation using additional resources. | Watson, George | Faculty Development | 1 Hour or Less | Introductory (professors and teachers) |
The Brominator | In this problem, students: learn to predict formulas for the products of “metal + nonmetal” reactions using the periodic table as a guide; encounter the idea of limiting reagents through a graphical presentation of data; predict limiting reagents based on stoichiometric conversions; and review the relationship between formula and mass composition. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (science majors) |
Winter Woes | A series of events on a cold winter’s day are used to introduce various concepts associated with solutions, including driving forces behind solution formation and colligative properties. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Will I Ever Be Able to Run Again, Doc? | Bob is a 53-year-old college professor. He is a regular runner, averaging between 25-35 miles per week. During the academic year he runs with one or two fellow professors during the noon hour. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
Is My Pitching Career Over? | Tom, a 53-year-old, right hand-dominant male plays on a traveling “exhibition” fast-pitch softball team. He has been a fast-pitch softball player for most of his life, and has made an excellent living since joining the “Arizona Jesters”, a traveling fast-pitch team that plays exhibition games against professional major league baseball teams (during spring practice) and regional championship-quality softball teams around the country. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
Why Am I Getting More Clumsy, Doc? | Marshall, a 62-year-old attorney, presented to his family physician with questions as to why he was shuffling a little more when he walked, and occasionally slurring his words, especially at the end of a hard day of work. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
Who Owns the Geritol Solution? | The Geritol solution is based on the premise that iron availability limits primary productivity in the high-nutrient, low-productivity zones of certain ocean waters. | Allen, Deborah | Biological Sciences | 6+ Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Where is That Long-Term Debt Program for Big Moo? | With this long-term debt problem, students will identify the types of evidence that they need and where they can get them (knowledge) to form an opinion about LTD. | Hansen, James | Accounting | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
What Is Wrong with My Child, Doc? | Tommy, a robust seven-year-old second grader is brought to the Emergency Room after experiencing a seizure on the playground during morning recess. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
What Is the Cause of This Swelling and Why Am I Short of Breath When I Exercise? | Joan is a corporate lawyer for a Fortune-500 company. She has been physically active her entire life. Lately Joan has become increasingly short of breath upon exertion… | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
What Did You Say, Doc? | John Angleman, a 41-year-old machinist, complains of difficulty hearing in the right ear. In addition, his gait has been unsteady, with occasional missteps with his right leg. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
What a Drag! | Students explore the effects of air resistance on the path of a baseball. Forces acting on a baseball are identified and the resulting set of differential equations for both the horizontal and vertical motion is derived. | Nowak, Edmund | Physics and Astronomy | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors) |
Watson Enterprises: Accounting for Marketable Equity Securities | Watson Enterprises is a Problem-Based Learning unfolding problem designed to engage the students with the topic of accounting for a portfolio of equity securities under FASB 115. This problem contains considerably more detail than the typical coverage in an Intermediate Financial Accounting text. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Vance Corporation: Cash Flow Statement | Having completed the four phases of the Vance Corporation PBL unfolding problem, students will be able to prepare a comprehensive cash flow statement using both the direct and indirect methods. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Uff Da–Why Does This Hurt, Doc? | Lars Johnson is a fledgling actor in L.A. California. He has just recently auditioned for a major part in a new situation comedy that is being proposed for one of the national TV networks. He has received a callback for a second audition, which means he is in serious running for the part, which would be a major ‘career maker’ for Lars. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Ubbes Company: Earnings Per Share | Having worked through the six phases of the Ubbes Company unfolding PBL problem, students will have learned the complexities of computing and reporting the earnings per share ratio. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
Tracy Lynn’s “Yellow Banana” | This problem is based on an actual car accident with the names changed to protect privacy. The streets in the accident scene do not meet at right angles, so this problem is more difficult for students. | Duch, Barbara | Physics and Astronomy | 3-6 hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
To Lease or to Buy? | The problem focuses on whether leasing or buying an asset is less expensive. The problem provides a setting in which students will be able to apply concepts such as discounting, NPV, capital budgeting, etc., learned earlier in a typical corporate finance course. | Narayanaswamy, Canchepuram | Finance | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
The Woozy Smoker | David, a 76-year-old male with a history of heavy cigarette smoking has developed a progressive gait disorder. He complains of frequent balance loss, staggering and unsteadiness. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Advanced (majors) |
The Sweet Spot | A frightening incident of a high school baseball pitcher being struck in the temple by a ball sets the context of this problem. Students use two-dimensional kinematics to estimate reaction times for pitchers, distance ranges, and trajectories of baseballs. | Nowak, Edmund | Physics and Astronomy | 3-6 hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
The Road to Rockingham | Elliott is a regional stock car racer that is hoping to make it to the Busch Racing Series and, ultimately, the NASCAR circuit. He is entered in a regional stock car race when he is involved in a high-speed accident. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
The Restless Baby | This problem helps a student develop a three-dimensional understanding of the anatomy of the pleural cavities by investigating the signs and symptoms of an eight-month-old infant with pleurisy. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | |
The Good Life | This two- to four-week problem asks students to consider the hypothesis that “money makes people happy.” Students investigate this hypothesis starting with computing the bivariate correlation between income and happiness in the General Social Survey (GSS), using SPSS. | Morling, Beth | Psychology | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |
The First Thanksgiving | Using the traditional American Thanksgiving holiday, students explore food laws and standards relating to the purchase of high quality poultry, the storage of poultry to maintain quality, appropriate preparation techniques for poultry, and the effect of heat on poultry. | Manning, Carolyn | Nutrition and Dietetics | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors) |
The Fastest Man in the World | This problem introduces students to speed and acceleration. | Duch, Barbara | Physics and Astronomy | 3-6 hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
The Disgruntled Baseball Fan | This problem provides an engaging introduction to descriptive statistics for students in the social and behavioral sciences, many of whom are required to take a statistics course for their majors and initially question its relevance. | Karpiak, Christie | Psychology | 3-6 hours | Introductory (majors) |
The Complaining Postal Carrier | This PBL follows a patient through two visits to the outpatient department of a rural hospital. The problem presents symptoms, patient history, physical examination results, and certain test results that aid the student in the navigation of the problem. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | |
The Complaining Husband | George, a 46-year-old presents to his family physician complaining of increased clumsiness. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
Terror in the Toilet Bowl | Part 1 of the problem provides students with an opportunity (1) to learn how to derive the rate law of a mechanism from initial rate and concentration data, and (2) to learn what sort of information might be obtained from plotting concentration vs. time data from a kinetic experiment. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Teetering on the Brink of Extinction? (Or Is It Too Late?) | The Florida panther is an endangered subspecies of puma (Felis concolor coryi). Within the context of problems posed by the management of the panther, the students are introduced to molecular genetics… | Donham, Richard | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Teaching Exceptional Adolescents | Students who have special education needs spend much of their instructional time in general education classrooms. General education teachers at the secondary level must be prepared to teach academically diverse classes. | Eisenman, Laura | Education | 6+ Hours | Introductory (majors) |
Taste Sensations | Students become part of a business that prepares and sells flavored vinegars, infused oils, flavored pestos, and other natural and healthful food items. They are asked to add one flavored vinegar and one infused oil to their product line. | Gross, Sandra | Nutrition and Dietetics | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Student Affairs Identity Crisis | The course is designed for doctoral level students in the Educational Leadership program. | Tweedy, James | Education | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
Street Fight | Rick, a high school student, is involved in a fight in which he and two other classmates “jump” a fourth classmate (John) because they don’t like the way he looks and acts. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Stormy Weather | Where will it rain? Where will it clear up? And what will the weather be like where you are? Students will not only answer these questions… | Price, Alan Paul | Geography | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Spring Break: A Lesson in Circuits | This case, taught in a problem-based learning format, introduces students to the topics of electricity and circuits within the context of house wiring. | Duch, Barbara | Physics and Astronomy | 6+ Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Something Is Horribly Wrong, Doc, and I Am Embarrassed to Talk About It | Brian is a 27-year-old-male graduate student that was injured in a rugby game approximately ten days ago. He has a bruise on his lower back that is starting to go away. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Solving Economic Underdevelopment in the Third World | You have been elected to office because you promised to solve once and for all the problem of underdevelopment in your country. Now is time to show the plan. Congress is waiting anxiously. | Carrion, Julio | Political Science | 6+ Hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Share and Share Alike | This problem addresses the use of the Colorado River by various stakeholders competing for a limited amount of water. As power generation through nuclear energy is being reconsidered, one of the major issues is the amount of water needed by these power plants at the expense of other demands on the same resource. | Groh, Susan | Faculty Development | 3-6 hours | Introductory |
Saving for a Rainy Day | A request for help comes in from a scientifically-illiterate relative trying to choose a system for passive solar energy storage. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1 Hour or Less | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Roots: Exploring our Distant Ancestry | While most students take a position for or against evolution, few actually understand the concept of natural selection or appreciate the idea of descent with modification. | White, Harold | Biological Sciences | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors) |
Riverside’s Dilemma | A town council is faced with some decisions to make centering on allowable pH limits for anticipated waste streams going into a river. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Rice-a-Roni: A San Franciso Treat | Students design the electric wiring portion of a home remodeling project. | Watson, George | Physics and Astronomy | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Responding to Economic Crisis in Africa | This problem deals with the economic crisis currently plaguing many countries in Africa. | Bauer, Gretchen | Political Science | 6+ Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Please Don’t Tell My Parents | A seventeen-year-old female presents to her local hospital’s E.R. at 7:45 in the morning on a school day. She appears apprehensive and uncomfortable. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Pass the Buffer-in | A student needing to prepare a pH 7.5 buffer must decide whether an unlabeled recipe will do the job. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Painting the Blues | The synthesis and composition of several blue pigments provide a context for exploring key ideas in stoichiometric calculations. | Groh, Susan | Chemistry | 1 Hour or Less | Introductory (majors and non-majors) |
Out of Control | The population of Lesser Snow Geese is growing exponentially in the US and Canada. | Dion, Linda | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Introductory (majors) |
Organic Mystery | In this problem, students learn to identify functional groups in organic molecules… | Lawrie, Ruth | Chemistry and Biochemistry | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (majors) |
Ohio Energy Company: Accounting for Joint Ventures | Having worked through the Ohio Energy Company unfolding problem, students will understand the equity method at a level well beyond that presented in intermediate accounting textbooks. | Cottell, Philip | Accounting | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
National Film Preservation Problem | One problem students face when it comes to the moving image film or television is the tendency to see those images as pure entertainment and therefore beyond analysis. | Johnson, Bryan | English | 3-6 hours | Advanced (majors) |
My Aching Back | Frank, a 39-year-old college professor, was putting dishes into his dishwasher at the end of the day when he felt a sharp pain in his lower back. In addition, he appeared to feel a sensation that could best be described “as a click”. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Mixing Carefully: “Scientific” Jello Preparation | Introductory, non-major laboratory courses are perfectly suited to a PBL approach. In these courses, the main objective is to involve students with diverse interests in exploring the scientific method in a ‘practical’ laboratory setting. | Fornari, Marco | Physics and Astronomy | 6+ Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Kids, Chemicals, and Cancer | The problem scenario: A child in Toms River, NJ develops leukemia. Citizens in the town begin to notice what seems to be a high incidence of childhood cancers. | Allen, Deborah | Environmental Science | 3-6 hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Job, Jobs, Jobs and Tax Cuts | From late 2000 to May 2003m the US economy lost almost three million jobs. The unemployment rate that May was six percent, or 8.8 million unemployed workers, and was an eight year high. | Long, Terry | Economics | 1-3 Hours | Introductory (non-majors) |
Jenna’s Wish for Breast Implants | 15-year old Jenna believes that breast implants are the secret to a successful future. She has asked, and her parents have agreed, to pay for implants as a gift for her 16th birthday. | Webber, Karen | Psychology, Women’s Studies | 1-3 Hours | Intermediate (majors) |
It Must Be a Bad Year for My Allergies | It is an idyllic March day on the Midwestern university campus as Dr. Bob Johnston walks to his 8:00 philosophy lecture section. As he is walking across campus he notices that his typical spring cough, headache, hoarseness and nasal stuffiness are more noticeable than they have been for the past 7 to 10 days. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 1 Hour or Less | Intermediate (majors and non-majors) |
Is This Normal for Someone My Age? | Eleanor, an 88-year-old widow and mother of two, visits RediMed late on a Sunday afternoon. | Tallitsch, Robert | Biological Sciences | 3-6 hours | Intermediate (majors) |