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 Department
of Language EducationPracticum in Language X425/L525 Dr. Hope Elkins, Ph.D. |
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The following shows you how to prepare a case study which is basically the summary of your learner's characteristics, the tutoring experience, recommendations for the learner's future instruction, and any support materials supplementing and clarifying the material in the study. When doing a case study, keep in mind it is a piece of research. All of the data support your instructional decisions, the outcomes of which add to collected data and support the recommendations. The learner characteristics should clearly lead to your instructional decisions, the outcomes of which should lead clearly to recommendations. As you do the case study, remember that the reader should easily see how the data connect in every part of the study. You might wish to have someone read your study to make sure that all parts logically come together and are supported by data. Here are the parts of the case study: I. Cover Sheet (see example below). Construct a cover sheet and fill in the needed information.
II. Learner Characteristics (Click here for example). In describing learner characteristics, be as clear, accurate, and detailed as possible. Imagine the learner's future tutor. After reading your description, could the tutor "see" the learner as you, the reporter, see her? Could the tutor look at your data and gain useful information from it? A. Physical. Begin by providing a brief physical description of the learner. Talk about the learner's general health and any physical characteristics, i.e., hearing, sight, malnutrition, brain injury, which might effect learning and reading specifically. B. Cultural. Describe the student's general family and cultural background. Bring out information that could impact learning. For example, discuss family reading habits, the child's access to print materials in the home, family members' attitudes concerning literacy and the school, the family members' levels of education, and other important cultural considerations. C. Psychological. Discuss the learner's personality. For example, is the student well adjusted, are antisocial behaviors observed which affect school performance, is the learner outgoing or introverted, assertive or submissive? Include data from the informal interest inventory such as the student's general and reading interests and any other psychological information you think would be important. D. Educational. Summarize the student's educational background. How was she taught to read? Do you have access to testing data that will shed light on the learner's reading performance? Mention any special educational programs in which the student participates. Talk about learner's specific reading behaviors. Include any other educational information you think is pertinent.
Note: The classroom teacher can be an invaluable resource in helping you collect information for the learner characteristics section, but keep in mind that privacy concerns might limit the teacher's sharing.
III. Individualized Tutoring Program. Carefully reflect on the learner characteristics. On the basis of this data, set appropriate goals and objectives for the tutoring program. The individualized tutoring program is a summary of the goals and objectives you set for your student and the activities used to achieve them. To write this section, first carefully reread the lesson plans created for each tutoring session.. A. Organization. Discuss how your lessons were organized. Where did you carry out the lessons? For example did you go to a quiet place such as the library, work in the classroom, go outside, or where? Was the work area a table, desk, an old rotten log in the woods? Approximately how long were your lessons? If you had a variety of locations, settings, and times, explain that and give a few examples.
Goal 1: Suzie will enjoy reading. Objectives: Will choose to read on her own. On the basis of information collected in the III and my observations, it became very clear that Suzie did not enjoy reading. Since reading enjoyment has been shown to be extremely important in a child's reading and writing development, I chose the following activities to achieve the goals and objectives: * Each week I took in a variety of tradebooks based on Suzie's interests as determined in the III. We went to a quiet corner in the library, and Suzie selected a book she thought would be especially enjoyable. We looked at the pictures and discussed what we thought the book would be about. I then read the story to her. Sometimes after this activity, I asked Suzie to draw a picture, and one day we did a language experience story in which Suzie wrote her own story based on the book we read. * At the beginning of our time together, I made a progress chart for Suzie. Since she was very interested in bears, I bought several bear stickers. Together Suzie and I set a goal for her reading and developed a reading log. Suzie decorated the log with bear pictures. Every time she read a book, Suzie recorded it in her reading log, and I put a bear sticker on her progress chart. When she had received ten stickers, I gave her a small stuffed bear. We continued this activity through the month of April when Suzie met and surpassed her goal of reading ten books. She read twenty books! Suzie expressed a desire to continue her reading during the summer and asked me to make another chart for her. We also enlisted her mother who said she would monitor Suzie's reading. You also noticed that Suzie had a very poor sight word vocabulary and added Goal 2.
Goal 2: Suzie will increase her sight word vocabulary. Objective: Will learn twenty new sight words by the end of April. Looking at Suzie's informal reading inventory, I noticed her sight word vocabulary was very limited and realized this might be one reason she did not enjoy reading. Since sight words are the foundation of one's reading vocabulary, it would be very frustrating trying to make sense of print without knowing them. * At the beginning of our time together, Suzie and I discussed how many new words she thought she could learn each week. She said five. I wanted the sight word experience to be as pleasant as possible, so I made several sight word games that could be played with two or more people. Each week we made time for a game. After I showed her how to play, and we played two times, I allowed Suzie to take the game for the week and play it with a friend or her family. Each week we added five new words. Suzie loved the games, and by the end of April she had learned thirty new sight words. The activity was so popular in the class, I left the games with the classroom teacher for other students who wanted to learn new words. __________________________________________________________ Notice how Suzie's goals and objectives were based on data which would have been summarized in the learner characteristics. It would be easy to see that goals and objectives were based on information about the learner. Also, notice how the activities were designed so Suzie could achieve the stated goals. The writer gives careful reasons for every instructional decision and explains the outcome of the activities. Because the tutor's lesson plans were thorough and detailed, she had no trouble going back to summarize the activities included the case study. Note: Not all learning situations are as positive as Suzie's. If your learner's experience is negative, be sure to mention it and tell why you think a particular activity was not successful. Look at your lesson evaluations in the lesson plans. This could give you a clue to what went wrong. Remember, what went wrong can be as enlightening as what went right.
IV. Recommendations. Look over the lesson plans again, especially in the evaluation and revision sections. Do you think the goals were met? What would you recommend for Suzie's future instruction? Would you recommend reinforcement of Goals 1 and 2; would you add some new goals? What kind of advice would you give Suzie's teacher and parents to help her be a better reader? Your recommendation might go back to the first part of the case study to learner characteristics. Possibly you've decided that Suzie could have a hearing problem and should be checked. Maybe during the course of your time together, you've come to the conclusion Suzie has an extremely low self-esteem and could benefit from some counseling. You might recommend some books Suzie would enjoy or some activities which might be beneficial to her. You are the professional. What is your professional opinion on how to further help this child? Be sure your recommendations are backed with information you've included somewhere in the case study.
V. Appendices. At the end of the case report, include, if desired, materials that can more adequately explain something mentioned in the report. Most people don't have time to carefully read long, repetitive reports, so only include what is absolutely necessary in the appendix. It's quite possible you won't have an appendix. Appendices are used only when necessary to clarify or expand something in the report. The case study is a professional paper. Keep the formatting as straightforward, clear, and business-like as possible. You may use any professional style you choose, but be consistent. You may single space, but be sure there are divisions which show clearly where each section begins and ends. Also use heading to clearly define the various parts of the report. Don't make recommendations that aren't supported by information in the case study. A case study is a type of research, so think of yourself as a researcher, and act accordingly. Case studies should express the logical decision-making process of teaching. If you are careful in collecting information about your learner and making detailed lesson plans, all the material you need for the case study will be at your fingertips. Below is an example of the case study report form. Include information that is pertinent. Some information might not be available for privacy reasons. If so, state on the form. In the section, "Recommendations," give a one-paragraph synopsis of the recommendations in the actual case study.
CASE STUDY AND REPORT
Date Submitted _____________ Learner's Name _______________________ School _______________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Phone Number _____________________ Birthdate _________________ School _____________________________ Grade ________ Year ____ Classroom Teacher _________________________ Parent or Guardian __________________________ Recommendation Summary __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
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Comments: disted@indiana.edu Copyright 1998, The Trustees of Indiana University
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