Teaching motor control disorders using a new case study in online and hybrid neuroscience and psychology courses

The COVID pandemic transformed undergraduate teaching from more traditional to digital delivery methods, which presented challenges and opportunities in student engagement and learning. Active learning pedagogy such as case study teaching is a great way to engage students in face-to-face settings. We wanted to investigate whether it is also effective in both fully online and hybrid settings. To accomplish this, we wrote a new case study on Alzheimer’s disease and piloted it in a hybrid Introduction to Neuroscience course and an online Biological Psychology course from Spring of 2021 through Spring of 2022. We also implemented a control course in Biological Psychology, whereupon a literature review paper on Alzheimer’s disease was assigned in lieu of the case study. To evaluate learning, we used exam questions and collected student survey data, which showed no significant difference in learning but improved engagement and positive feedback in the case study group. Furthermore, we have learned valuable lessons regarding the strengths and weaknesses of this new case, along with some pedagogical insights on teaching case studies in online and hybrid courses.