Introduction

Established in 2002, The Case Files is an NSF-funded project building on the foundations, experience, and research of the earlier SEATEC project. The SEATEC research determined that use of a case study method to be a more effective instructional strategy in technological education than the traditional lecture-lab course delivery.

Many of the lessons learned in the SEATEC project are the basis for The Case Files. For example, The Learning Cycle was established as a structure for guiding students through the process of working a case.

Research has shown that when the Learning Cycle is incorporated into case studies students learn and retain course content and transfer that knowledge more effectively as compared to using traditional methods. This cycle, adapted by SEATEC for use in technological education, is based on a guided cyclical process developed and piloted at Vanderbilt University and from the framework described in "How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School" published by the National Research Council.