by Evelyn Beck

WHEN DAWN LANGLEY Simmons was born in 1937, the doctors decided she was a male. However, this "boy" was later re-identified as a girl and, according to some accounts, ultimately gave birth to a child. Students in Kim Finer's human genetics course at Kent State University, Stark Campus, use this real case to learn how gender is assigned at birth. Over two class periods, they discuss sexual dimorphism and developmental biology, engaging in a debate or writing position papers about the possibility or impossibility of Dawn's giving birth.

Case studies like this one, a vital part of problem-based learning (PBL), have long been a regular feature of courses in law, medicine, and business. Now they are also gaining popularity as a teaching tool for humanizing science and for helping students think critically as they work their way through the scientific method in solving a problem.

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