Investigative case-based learning is a variation of Problem Based Learning in which cases provide a context for problem posing, problem solving, and peer persuasion. Students work collaboratively to identify issues and frame questions of interest to themselves and in the process they also learn to:

• locate and manage information;
• develop reasonable answers to their questions;
• provide support for their conclusions, and
• work on decision making abilities.

The cases serve as springboards to student-designed investigations. Although the case defines a general area of science under investigation, students generate the questions that will define their own topic of study. Students use the case as a focus. Cases are useful for lifelong learning because they are open-ended and draw from a broad range of situations in which scientific reasoning can be applied. Open-ended cases require student learning to go beyond the facts of science to use scientific knowledge to frame questions and to answer them.

The use of technology in the classroom is an important focus of investigative case-based learning. In this workshop, we will look at modeling and simulation, online tools, databases, and other resources. A special emphasis is placed on the use of sequence information and bioinformatics. We will use molecular data to make an identification of an unknown "sample" and then track down the source of an outbreak of West Nile virus.

Using Online Resources, Simulations, Data, and Tools

	Case	Scientific Context
Problem 1 Problem 2 Problem 3 Problem 4 Problem 5	AuntieBody Saving the Biosphere Irish Potato Famine Kujira? Tracking the West Nile Virus	Medical diagnosis Environmental interactions Agriculture Forensics Epidemiology