IF YOU WANT TO:
Using case studies and simulation techniques.
An engineering professor presents students with problems based on real case studies. "For example," he says, "students are told that a ball bearing failure has occurred in an airplane. They are asked to outline what steps they would take in determining the cause and correcting it.
"They tell me what tests they would make and, using simulation techniques, I tell them what the results of those tests would be and ask what they would do next. This continues until the students have either solved the problem or are stumped. Then their results are compared with those from the actual case study.
"The value of this approach is to give students experience solving the type of practical problems they will encounter as professionals," he explains. "Also, because the problems are bases on actual cases, it gives students a chance to measure their own problem-solving skills with those of practicing engineers."
A professor of anthropology also carefully prepares case study assignments to give her lower division students exposure to primary research techniques and strategies. Students are presented with a collection of photos, maps, and narrative information which depict a site as an archaeologist would see it. Students must answer a series of questions, e.g., "what changes in eating habits can you infer from the artifacts found at two different levels?"
Limitations on Use of Suggestion
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