It is a variant of Problem Based Learning methods employed in many medical schools and increasingly in undergraduate education. The ICBL approach gives students opportunities to direct their own learning as they explore the science underlying the case. Students not only identify issues and frame questions of interest to them, but also learn to locate and manage information, to develop reasonable answers to their questions, to provide support for their conclusions, and to work on decision making abilities. ICBL is student-centered.
Students structure their own learning, using the story of the case as a focus.
Although the case defines the general area of biology under investigation, students define their own topic of study. Students will pose problems, try to solve them, and present conclusions that represent their own findings to others. The instructor as well as the students are collaborators in this process. Cases useful for ICBL biology teaching are open-ended and draw from a broad range of situations in which biology can be applied. Open-ended cases are needed to lead students beyond the facts of science and into using the skills of investigating and scientific knowledge to frame questions and answer them.