Addressing problems encountered in case-based teaching.

摘要

TURF 436 (Case Studies in Turfgrass Management) is the capstone course for turfgrass science majors at the Pennsylvania State University. Students are introduced to problems and complex problematic situations encountered in the management of golf and sports turf and in professional lawn-care operations. Following completion of the orientation case in which students work individually, all other cases are done as team projects, with four- or five-member teams preparing for the discussions of three cases each. Problems encountered in teaching this course included: less-than-full participation by all team members in preparing their respective presentations, poor attendance at class meetings when other teams were presenting, students unprepared to participate in discussions of the cases following their presentation, and consistent grading of team reports. Solutions found to be effective in addressing these problems are provided.