Case Studies in Early Childhood
This study has concluded.
Investigators:
P.J. McWilliam
(mcwillpj@mail.fpg.unc.edu)
Project goals: The Case Method of Instruction (CMI) is an instructional approach that has great potential in early intervention personnel preparation (cf. Snyder & McWilliam, 1999). In CMI a trainee's mastery of theory, facts, and specific skills is considered important, but only insofar as the trainee is capable of using them in decision-making with real-life situations.
In addition to teaching problem-solving skills, CMI is effective in promoting the highest-level skills in the affective domain of Benjamin Bloom's hierarchy/taxonomy of educational objectives, which involve the development of an internal value system and the ability to respond to new situations in accordance with that value system (Naume and Naumes, 1999; McWilliam, 1995; Snyder & McWilliam, 1999).
Case studies are realistic accounts of situations encountered by professionals and paraprofessionals in the workplace, complete with extraneous information, missing information, and conflicting values of the people involved. Most important, case studies used for CMI do not provide implicit or explicit solutions to the dilemmas or problem(s) presented. Rather, the cases are unsolved and each case situation allows for alternative solutions. Thus, case studies serve as the raw material for implementing CMI.
Project accomplishments: Case studies specific to early childhood issues and appropriate for use in CMI were developed, field-tested and made available on-line and free to instructors. Links to other web sites further increased the number of appropriate case studies from which to choose, broadened the number of early childhood topics teachable through CMI (i.e., variations in case study content), and provided information on how to implement CMI.
Although not originally planned for the project, cooperative efforts between NCEDL staff and several OSEP and OERI projects housed at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center provided opportunities for the direct training of a number of early childhood instructors in at least 10 states. These training opportunities varied from that of awareness-level training (e.g., 1 1/2 hour session) to participation in master-level classes (4-day intensive workshop on CMI).
As a consequence of this project, an increased number of early childhood instructors--most notably those teaching in community colleges--are aware of strategies for teaching students/trainees how to apply research and specific skill training to the types of situations that EC practitioners encounter in their everyday work.
In addition, appropriate case studies are available for instructors to use. Although not a direct result of this project, the principle investigator found that instructors who participated in more intense training about CMI (4-day workshop with ongoing peer support) are far more likely to actually implement CMI in their courses and workshops for early childhood students and professionals.
For more information go to the project web site at www.fpg.unc.edu/~cmi/
Publications and products:
National Center for Early Development & Learning. (2000, April). Spotlight #21: Case stories offer practical training. Chapel Hill, NC: author.
These case studies were developed and are available on the NCEDL Website
McWilliam, P.J. (1995). Teaching family-centered skills through the case method of instruction. Zero To Three, 15(3), 30-34.
Snyder, P., & McWilliam, P.J. (1999). Evaluating the efficacy of case method instruction: Findings from preservice training in family-centered care. Journal of Early Intervention.
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