Case Study for Online Teaching

Many of us have ended an unusual semester, others are in the middle of their quarter. All of us are most likely reflecting on what just happened. I have received several requests on how to document and process our teaching approach this past term. Several have asked about creating a case study (CS), so I would like to share resources on this quasi-experimental design approach. I would like to note that a reflection, teaching idea or teaching story - although a great start - is not a CS. A CS is a "STUDY" of a case, or methodology. A formal definition, "a process of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time." To create a CS, we need to collect evidence (direct and indirect measures) to determine if the treatment (online teaching, including active learning and/or class assessment techniques , etc.) was effective and if so, in what context, to what extent, with what limitations, variables, etc.

If you are interested in creating a CS, you might wish to consider the functionality and purpose of your final artifact. Here are some examples from Boyer's (1990) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Model:

Idea of a teaching strategy that you have created, attempted, reflected upon, perhaps asked students or colleagues their impression. Some minimal level of data are collected and examined in a systematic way. You might consider posting the results on a blog or your CTLs website.
White Paper, which is an authoritative guide that informs readers concisely about a complex topic. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Carnegie Mellon CTL has a list of white papers for your consideration.
Teaching Conference Presentation. Kennesaw University maintains an extensive list of higher ed teaching conferences for your review.
Peer Reviewed Conference Proceeding. Similar to the above teaching conference presentation, this approach targets specific conferences that offer a peer review component and create a proceeding, or journal-like publication of the papers presented.
Peer Reviewed Scholarly SoTL manuscript. If you have more time and your time spent on creating a manuscript on teaching would be beneficial to your career, you could consider writing a research paper. This might be a challenge to put together after the event, if you did not plan in advance to collect data. Kennesaw University also has a list of SoTL journals for your review.