In this task, students are asked to construct an argument about the probable cause of death of a fictitious young man who collapsed and died at a local university. Students are given a set of information and will be continuously supplied with new information and the results of lab tests throughout the task. Students will need to consider all of the information carefully, will need to use their previous knowledge about disease and its impact on the body systems. They will need to use good deductive reasoning in order to determine why the healthy young man died.
Students will prepare a medical case study report where they will need to summarize the facts of the case, research possible causes of death, examine resources (autopsy report and lab results), construct and justify an argument about the probable cause of death, and discuss the limitations of their argument.
