Ready, Set, Go: Fostering Student Success in an Introductory Biomedical Engineering Technology Course

Joie Marhefka; Dalynn D Park; Laura E Cruz

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Conference: 2020 First-Year Engineering Experience
Location: East Lansing, Michigan
Publication Date: July 26, 2020
Start Date: July 26, 2020
End Date: July 28, 2020
Page Count: 10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--35777
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/35777
Download Count: 233

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Joie Marhefka Penn State New Kensington

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Joie Marhefka is an Assistant Teaching Professor and the Biomedical Engineering Technology program coordinator at Penn State New Kensington. Prior to coming to Penn State, she worked at several biotech start-ups and completed a post doctoral fellowship at NIST. She earned her PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh and her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at Villanova.

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Dalynn D Park Penn State New Kensington

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Hi, I am Dalynn Park, a sophomore at Penn State University, New Kensington Campus. I am studying Biomedical Engineering Technology and Biobehavioral Health in hopes to continue further for a graduate degree. In the future, I hope to obtain a master’s degree in prosthetics and orthopedic sciences to one day work as a pediatric prosthetic practitioner. I want to use my degrees and knowledge to help children and other individuals in the rehabilitation process after amputations and/or have been the recipient of a prosthetic limb. In addition to my studies at Penn State New Kensington, I maintain an active student status. I am involved in numerous clubs such as Biomedical Engineering club, Biobehavioral Health club, THON, and Campus Activities Board. I also had the opportunity to be a 2019 orientation leader for the campus. I am a member of the Tau Alpha Pi - National Honor Society of Engineering. Along with my studies and participation on campus, I am also conducting undergraduate research for the CTL scholars program. I work alongside Penn State faculty members to look at interactive teaching techniques within my preferred course of study of engineering.

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Laura E Cruz Penn State orcid.org/0000-0001-5817-8934

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Laura Cruz (Ph.D, UC Berkeley 2001) is an Associate Research Professor for Teaching & Learning Scholarship with the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State. She previously served as the director of two Centers for Teaching and Learning; as editor-in-chief of three teaching-related journals, as elected member of the national board for faculty developers in the United States, and as principle investigator for four externally funded grants. Her publications and invited presentations include work in her first discipline (history) as well as the areas of instructional design, educational development, organizational change, and educational innovation. Her most recent co-authored book, Taking Flight: Making your Center for Teaching and Learning Soar was just published by Stylus Press.

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Abstract

This mixed-methods research study follows the progress of an incoming cohort of biomedical engineering technology (BMET) students as they engage in a re-designed introductory course and navigate problem-based learning (PBL) activities with a career focus. Taken collectively, our findings affirm previous studies of PBL as an effective strategy for fostering engineering habits of mind; and they further underscore how PBL can serve as a vehicle for enhancing onboarding and persistence through career-oriented degrees in engineering, with particular salience for transitioning returning or non-traditional students to the workforce

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Marhefka, J., & Park, D. D., & Cruz, L. E. (2020, July), Ready, Set, Go: Fostering Student Success in an Introductory Biomedical Engineering Technology Course Paper presented at 2020 First-Year Engineering Experience, East Lansing, Michigan. 10.18260/1-2--35777