Writing the Case Study - hdbk11160017

DOE-HDBK-1116-98

The existence of high air flow rates through various wall penetrations.

Cables damaged by fire that prevented automatic equipment operation.

Depending on the type of case study, you will need to provide facts or statements from key

characters that will lead the trainee toward the symptoms and training objective. To do this, the

developer may need to create story characters. Make these characters real, with acceptable

everyday names and ensure that they are human-- not all bad or all good.

4.4 Writing the Case Study

The instructional developer should keep some specific points in mind when writing the body of

the case study.

Make the narrative as concise as possible; use graphs and figures to help present the

facts.

Case studies can date very quickly; therefore, use periods of time (e.g., one year) rather

than actual dates (e.g., September 1983).

Provide the cause of the event either in the body of the case study, as the example

shows, or in the lesson plan for other types of case studies.

Give factors that affected the severity of the event (i.e., what made the situation worse).

State the lessons learned from the event either by writing it into the case study, as in the

example, or by providing it in the lesson plan for case study types.

Although the instructional developer should be concise, enough of a description is

needed to make the case meaningful. All aspects of the case related to the objective

must be included. In this example case study the specific points mentioned above are

included in the following excerpts.

supply and exhaust fans and will always

DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT

be toward the area of possible higher

radiation. The reactor building and

This commercial nuclear power plant is

refueling floor is the area of lowest

a three-unit boiling water reactor site.

pressure. The standby gas-treatment

At the time of the event, Units 1 and 2

system must exhaust air from the reactor

were in operation at 100% power.

building to maintain a negative pressure.

Unit 3 was under construction.

In order not to exceed the capacity of this

system, inleakage to the reactor building

Activities Preceding the Fire

must be kept at a minimum.

The plant is designed so the air

The refueling floor is common for all three

movement from one plant area to

reactor units. To maintain the proper

another is controlled by

pressure....