Articulating case-based learning outcomes and assessment

Contemporary classroom practices have evolved, and are continuing to evolve toward an emphasis on authentic learning activities. To a considerable degree, lectures and proscribed classroom exercises are being replaced with more open-ended, problem-based activities that are frequently carried out by groups of students (i.e., collaborative learning). We are investigating the use and assessment of such learning activities in a usability engineering course for 3rd and 4th year Information Science undergraduate students at the Pennsylvania State University. This paper advances our project by attempting to better articulate the specific learning objectives of case-based activities employed in this course and appropriate assessment goals and methods for these learning objectives.