Draw on learners' experience Adult learners are motivated by experiences that affect them personally. Facilitating contributory participation increases their personal investment For a group case study, there are multiple advantages in using the case study to draw out learners' experience and personal perspective. First, when learners contribute their own experience to the case study, they gain confidence and enjoyment throughout the activity.
Second, a case study that assumes learners have no experience or contribution may feel pedantic or even condescending. Third, encouraging the learner to share their ideas, opinions, and experience creates a synergistic learning opportunity that the questions on the page alone cannot accomplish.
This can be done by asking discussion or reflection questions during the progress of the exercise and at its conclusion. Questions that aim to solicit information from the learner regarding past experiences he or she has in making decisions or navigating situations like those encountered in the case study can be effective in enhancing the learning experience.
These types of questions can also encourage beneficial self-reflection and allow for recognition of how skills have been or could be applied in reality. Alternatively, questions that treat issues or controversies with no perfect answer fit into the context of the case study while drawing on learners' opinions, often leading to rich dialogue and experience sharing.
Interactive training design options The specific design used will depend on training content, setting, and the number of learners. Below, we discuss several designs in the context of smaller groups e. In many cases, larger groups can be accommodated with small-group case study designs. In many cases, small modifications can be made that also take advantage of the larger class size.
Problem-based scenarios Problem-based scenarios are the mainstay of case study trainings. They guide learners through carrying out activities and can be flexible in length, depending on the depth of information covered and activities or computations required.
Small groups In a problem-based scenario, a situation or background information is presented, and the individual or small group must work through a series of questions that address learning objectives in the context presented. Questions ask learners to provide information, conduct a calculation, or come to a decision and move on to the next question.
Additional information that adds to the scenario may be provided once or several times throughout the case study. Large groups A couple variations on the problem-based case study scenario make them more interesting in the large group setting. One option is to create slightly different scenarios for breakout groups. For example, in a case study where groups are designing surveillance systems according to set principles taught in class, each small group can focus on a different set of diseases or conditions for their surveillance system.
Alternatively, small groups can be provided with updates unique to their group. While this requires additional work in developing case study answer guides, small groups can present their results to each other at the end of the session and can learn more about public health challenges and considerations than just the work they themselves have performed. Role play Role plays are excellent tools for practicing scenarios in which the learner must think of what to say or do, and work well for interview situations and meeting scenarios.
They are best used among learners who have already spent some time together, so that fewer inhibitions exist. Small groups While many case studies ask the learner to assume they have a specific role or identity in order to answer case study questions, a role-play asks a group of learners to go a step further by carrying out interactions with other group members from the perspective of the role they are playing.
Acting out an interview can provide inexperienced learners an opportunity to practice and offers experienced learners an opportunity to add improvisational content from their own experience. Scenarios may have learners conduct interviews with food workers, business proprietors, case-patients, research subjects, hospital personnel, and more. Additionally, they may be the interviewee with members of the media or government officials. Both the person conducting the interview and the person being interviewed are given guidance that can include questionnaires or question topic domains for the interviewer, a personality profile of their roles, background information for the person answering questions, top priority concerns for stakeholders, and any other details relevant to the situation.
Additionally, role players can be given guidance to cause challenges for each other. Town hall meetings, stakeholder meetings, or media events can be simulated when roles relevant to the situation are assigned to different group members.
For example, group members could be in a scenario dealing with student health, and members can be assigned the roles of school officials, parents, health department personnel, or students. Information sheets for each role can encourage the role player to be at odds with others to encourage discussion, bring up concepts taught in the class, and rationalize their actions relevant to the scenario.
The value derived from role playing is in practicing personal interactions and the process of considering various viewpoints.
Large groups Role plays can be carried out within the context of the large group by dividing the audience into breakout groups, each representing a group of people, such as health spokespeople, media, or community members. The entire group would have the same pre-defined list of character traits or concerns, but individuals within the group voicing their own perspective provide lively interaction.
Another option is to have each small group carry out the same role play, with one person per role, and then to follow the role play with a large group discussion. Create a common product This exercise is particularly useful when the skills to complete a large task are being taught, such as skills for writing reports or designing surveillance systems.
Small groups Although it is not feasible, in a classroom setting, to have learners complete a large task at their desk, as a group they can efficiently combine forces to cover key concepts from the teaching and produce a common paper, outline, graph, or presentation that addresses key points. Simple example assignments to a small group include: Given the scenario, create a flow diagram of a surveillance system that collects population-based pneumonia and influenza data.
Write the outline of a bulletin article that summarizes the outbreak investigation methods and results that we have worked through today.
With each group member taking responsibility for one section of a protocol, write an outline for key content to be included in each section. Then share your results with your group members and solicit their feedback. Large groups Breakout groups creating a common product can provide an added dimension and present their product to the entire class.
In these cases, it is beneficial to ask the class for constructive criticism on each other's work. Audience members can rate the presenting group against how well they addressed class concepts or met defined criteria. Small or large groups If a training is being held in a location where learners have easy and safe access to a public lunch room, university students, or a busy walkway or plaza, the learner can go out of the classroom and engage the general public in practicing basic interviewing skills and piloting questions from a data collection instrument.
For example, the learner can collect data to bring back to the classroom, such as whether people are wearing hats, so they can create a collective distribution diagram during a biostatistics lesson. A specific and somewhat tight time limit should be given with the understanding that this is a part of the training, not a break.
Presentations from the field Small or large groups Where instruction is being given to individuals representing a variety of expertise levels, presentations by two or three learners who have more experience or expertise can provide a highly educational perspective. For example, in a training we carried out on strengthening population-based influenza surveillance, influenza officers from countries with a strong surveillance system were asked ahead of time to present on the design, site selection, case selection, and limitations or barriers in their surveillance systems.
Discussion Much like the practice of field epidemiology itself, there is an art and a science to producing a case study. We lay out a process for structuring a case study around key teaching points, finding elements to include in a case study plot, and incorporating interactive activities and methods throughout a case study, acknowledging that real-world situations may not always follow a predefined sequence.
First, ensure that the goals and content of the training are compatible with the goals of a case study mentioned earlier in this paper. Case studies lend themselves well to situations in which the learners have some experience working in their designated fields to enhance their participation. Clear didactic materials whether lecture, job aid, or other format for learners to refer to can keep the discussion focused appropriately.
When a group of learners comes together, the discussion can flounder or become derailed by lack of clarity in the underlying concepts. Thus, it is important that any didactic materials also be carefully crafted.
An invited or guest speaker for didactic materials can be beneficial but can also confuse learners if concepts are presented differently than in the case study or other training materials.
If guest speakers are delivering didactic content, we have found that it is easiest to provide them slides covering the critical points.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Foreword A hallmark of field epidemiology training is its focus on acquisition of practical epidemiologic knowledge and skills to address priority public health issues. The training must prepare the trainee to conduct the core functions of a field epidemiologist — investigate outbreaks, conduct public health surveillance, collect and analyze data, use epidemiologic judgment, and communicate effectively.
While these functions or competencies are best learned through practice in the field under the guidance of experienced mentors, even the classroom component that usually precedes the fieldwork can help prepare the trainee. For example, to supplement a lecture on the steps of an outbreak investigation, the unfolding circumstances of an actual outbreak can be presented in the classroom, and trainees could be asked what decisions they would make, what hypotheses they would consider, what statistics they might calculate and given the data, calculate them , what conclusions they might draw from the data, and so on.
The first outbreak known to be used in this way to teach epidemiologic field investigation principles and methods is the now legendary outbreak of gastroenteritis following a church supper in Oswego, New York in For many years these teaching examples were called "problems" or "exercises", but neither term seemed entirely satisfactory as a descriptor.
Business-school case studies are in-depth stories, ranging from a few pages to over a hundred pages in length, that present issues for which one or more decisions are needed, often without a right answer; a limited number of questions are posed at the end [ 2 ]. Students read the case study as homework, and come to class prepared to discuss the questions.
In contrast, applied epidemiology case studies are usually read by the trainees in class, often out loud, stopping to answer questions that are interspersed throughout, without looking ahead. The questions can ask for a decision, but often they instruct the trainees to perform calculations, draw graphs, generate lists, interpret data, or consider the pros and cons of different approaches.
One reason is that they are consistent with the principles of adult learning. They use actual examples to reinforce concepts.
Harvard T. Hypertonic saline in the treatment of viral bronchiolitis in infants. For example, in a case study where groups are designing surveillance systems according to set principles taught in class, each small group can focus on a different set of diseases or conditions for their surveillance system. Front Public Health This ensures the sole meets the required objectives, and disciplines a problem to the time as the speaker can give subject area feedback to curriculum vitae. Other considerations for choosing a professional include number of participants, level of plagiarism expertise, cultural sensibilities in interacting with one another, and living of study and support critical. Building and sustaining strong public health agencies. Comparison of thesis on sports sponsorship of class lecture versus workshop-based teaching of incremental life epidemiology on acquiring practice skills among the information care providers.Kem
While these functions or competencies are best learned through practice in the field under the guidance of experienced mentors, even the classroom component that usually precedes the fieldwork can help prepare the trainee. The high prevalence of positive anti-Ro antibodies among our Arab patients probably reflects a characteristic that is commonly seen in SLE patients of Middle Eastern origin. Data from 55 children with intractable epilepsy were compared with 50 children who responded well to treatment with antiepileptic drugs and who were seizure-free for at least 2 years. Alternatively, small groups can be provided with updates unique to their group. Second, consider the amount of time for the training, characteristics of the learners and training content, and select a format. The influence of epidemiology and biostatistics on legal and ethical issues are also discussed.
Groshakar
One reason is that they are consistent with the principles of adult learning.
Dajas
When a group of learners comes together, the discussion can flounder or become derailed by lack of clarity in the underlying concepts. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services. For a group case study, there are multiple advantages in using the case study to draw out learners' experience and personal perspective. The peak to low ratio of adjusted number of TB cases was 1. Case studies cover epidemiologic basics such as: outbreak investigation, surveillance, study design, data interpretation, and descriptive and analytic methods. Conclusion Participatory case studies are a beneficial way of delivering training for professionals who need to learn, reinforce, and apply specific skills to carry out their job duties.
Nanos
Author contributions AN wrote the manuscript with significant contribution from LB. Create a common product This exercise is particularly useful when the skills to complete a large task are being taught, such as skills for writing reports or designing surveillance systems. Furthermore, symptomatic localization-related epilepsy was found to be more common among children with intractable epilepsy than in the control group. Problem-based scenarios Problem-based scenarios are the mainstay of case study trainings.
Meztile
This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.
Fenrit
The number of countries reporting dengue cases is increasing worldwide. We are pleased to add these case studies to the library of training materials available to FETP trainers, university faculty, and others who wish to teach field epidemiology in an engaging and interactive way. In these cases, it is beneficial to ask the class for constructive criticism on each other's work.
Faulmaran
However, this assignment was near the end of the week learners were tired , and we chose an hour just before lunch to complete the assignment so that students would be able to interact with a larger number of patrons at the cafeteria at the training site. In: Foley G, editor. While they eventually completed the assignment, we lost almost an hour of training time. In settings where breakout groups are utilized, it is recommended there be a facilitator embedded with each group to help moderate, ensure all have a chance to participate, that appropriate effort is being exerted, and that learners generally arrive at the intended answers. Public health communications How should complicated risk information be communicated to the media? They guide learners through carrying out activities and can be flexible in length, depending on the depth of information covered and activities or computations required.
Mauran
However, this assignment was near the end of the week learners were tired , and we chose an hour just before lunch to complete the assignment so that students would be able to interact with a larger number of patrons at the cafeteria at the training site. Town hall meetings, stakeholder meetings, or media events can be simulated when roles relevant to the situation are assigned to different group members. These case studies cover topics including outbreak investigations, surveillance activities, and complex emergencies. Public Health Rep.
Voodoolar
Full Text Article. Anaemia was found in Vasculitis was observed in The course instructors are particularly interested in epidemiologic studies conducted in West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula and published in peer-reviewed journals or as reports to organizations. This paper evaluates the dengue case notification, surveillance, laboratory facilities, intersectoral collaboration, and how government and community services responded to the outbreak.