Paper ID #43179Effectiveness of Inclusive, Reflective Teaching Practices on Problem SolvingProficiencyDr. Casey Jane Ankeny, Northwestern University Casey J. Ankeny, PhD is an Associate Professor of Instruction and Director of MS Program at Northwestern University.Prof. David P O’Neill, Northwestern University David O’Neill is an Associate Professor of Instruction and the Michael Jaharis Director of Experiential Learning for the Biomedical Engineering Department at Northwestern University. David read Engineering Science at University College, Oxford, receiving his M.Eng. and D.Phil. before undertaking a post-doc in the
to support student learning in the studios via active learning techniques. She is particularly interested in researching the impact of the engineering studio environment on student learning, engagement, and motivation, and investigating how the new studio curriculum impacts student’s perception of their engineering identity.Prof. Jonathan T. Butcher, Cornell University ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025Work In Progress: A framework for evaluating student cognitive and affective reflections inBME studio learningIntroduction. Experiential learning immerses students in real-world scenarios and problemsolving, enriching their understanding through active engagement [1]. In engineering
Paper ID #43911Take this Job and Love It: Identity-Conscious Self-Reflection as a Tool toSupport Individualized Career Exploration for Graduating Biomedical EngineeringStudentsDr. Uri Feldman, Wentworth Institute of Technology Uri Feldman is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. He received a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. As a
of factors, andthe new curriculum launches fall of 2023 [1-3]. All core and elective courses were assessed forgaps, redundancies, and bottlenecks, and the curriculum was redesigned – except one non-lecture-based or lab-based course, namely the high-impact engineering course required byTAMU’s College of Engineering. The learning outcomes are stated as: “Upon successfulcompletion of this course, students will be able to (a) reflect on professional outcomes from theengineering body of knowledge and (b) assess learning experiences.” The intent of high-impactcourses is to ensure that students have the opportunity outside the formal classroom setting todevelop essential and professional skills such as communication, problem-solving, organization
is reflected in their output, which can be coherent, engaging,and, in some cases, strikingly human-like. LLMs exhibit a wide range of capabilities, which arelisted in Figure 1.While LLMs have shown remarkable performance on various tasks, they face several challenges.LLMs may generate plausibly sounding but factually incorrect statements. Secondly, LLMsstruggle with understanding and applying common sense or real-world knowledge despite theirimpressive capabilities. And LLMs can inadvertently perpetuate biases present in their trainingdata [23, 24].ChatGPT is a specific implementation of an LLM developed by OpenAI. It's designed to engagein human-like conversations, providing helpful, respectful, and honest responses while also beingable to
developthe skills and mindset needed to tackle complex, real-world challenges in biomedical design. Weaim to address the question of how the middle years of college (sophomore and junior years)serve as a bridge between foundational learning and advanced application of BME designattitudes, beliefs, mindsets, and skills.This course is designed to guide students in reflecting on their strengths, areas for growth,interests, and past experiences while creating an online resume. Through weekly 50-minutesessions, the seminar addresses ABET Student Outcomes 1–7, fostering a reflective approach tolearning in BME. However, the course’s impact has been limited by insufficient engagementwith real-world biomedical engineering challenges and the biodesign process
learning, critical reflection in ethics, and high-impact practices.Dr. Steven Higbee, Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) Steve is an Associate Professor of Engineering Practice in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University in Indianapolis. He received his PhD in Bioengineering from Rice University (Houston, TX) in 2013, after earning his BS and MS degrees from Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN).Jennifer M Hatch, Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) Jennifer Hatch is a Continuing Lecturer of Biomedical Engineering in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. She earned her BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering from Indiana University - Purdue University
across six corecourses and one advanced technical elective in an undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME)program curriculum. Our collaborative autoethnography examines the following researchquestions (RQ):RQ1: Why do faculty revise their BME courses to incorporate health equity concepts?RQ2: How do BME faculty integrate health equity concepts into undergraduate BME courses?RQ3: What best practices can be illuminated to support further health equity-focused curricularreform?Conceptual Framework: The Academic PlanTo establish a shared vocabulary for exploration of our research questions, we leverage Lattucaand Stark’s [23] Academic Plan Model to underpin our collaborative reflections. The AcademicPlan Model is a framework for understanding
Concept MapsAbstractThis paper describes a work-in-progress study investigating the use of concept mapping forassessing students’ conceptual knowledge over a semester in a biomedical engineering modelingcourse. The concept maps are used to evaluate the evolution of students’ skills in developingmathematical models that describing biological systems and students’ specific contentknowledge as they complete problem-based learning projects. As students gain experiencedeveloping mathematical models to answer open-ended problem-based learning questions, wehypothesize that their conceptual understanding of mathematical modeling and of the biologicalsystems studied will increase. This improved conceptual understanding is reflected by conceptmaps with
, engagement and knowledge retention. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025WIP: Impact of Metacognition Focused Activities on Development of Learning Habits in PhysiologyIntroductionThe ability to monitor and assess one’s own knowledge and skills plays a pivotal role in learning[1]. Several have previously described the beneficial effect of this type of metacognitive toolthrough interventions such as exam wrappers, reflections and self-surveys [1-3]. Unfortunately,bioengineering curricula often do not give students sufficient practice developing these tools. Formany students, it can be easy to fall into the trap of implementing ineffective learning strategiesrepeatedly
scaffolding of projects with sub-deadlines for reporting on achievement ofspecific deliverables are utilized to engage students sooner and feed into beginning of classdiscussions concerning “pain points” and methods to ameliorate them. This also serves toidentify struggling students and provide additional guidance, whether through the discussion ofmethods utilized by peers or through instructor-led discussion. Maintenance of a Google Doc bystudents will be utilized to document their ongoing progress and for reporting of time spentworking on the individual projects and project reflection for productivity. These activities helppromote steady progress and foster self-directed learning [1-4]. Grounded in Vygotsky’s Zone ofProximal Development [5,6] and
constructed through interactions with the environmentand reflection on those experiences. In this context, metacognitive regulation aligns with the notionof reflective abstraction, where learners assess and refine their cognitive strategies throughexperience. In BME education, where complex problem-solving and critical thinking are integralto the learning process, the dynamic interplay between metacognitive knowledge and regulationbecomes essential. As students engage with challenging engineering problems, their ability toreflect on and adjust thinking is critical not only for retaining technical content but also for applyingskills in the real-world. Thus, this framework allows for a deeper exploration of how metacognitivestrategies can be nurtured
experience. To assess student perceptions of thenew curriculum intervention, reflections were collected and qualitatively analyzed resulting in 3overarching themes, including creativity in user-centered design, time management, andcommunication/collaboration. These themes demonstrate that students felt they acquired orexpanded skills that are considered vital in a work environment. Therefore, applying this projectexperience on a larger scale can alleviate some of the unpreparedness that engineering studentsfeel as they leave school and enter the workforce. The intervention details will be provided toencourage other engineering instructors to implement similar real-world learning strategies in thehigher education classroom.IntroductionMany
as reflecting the challenges forbiomedical engineers, or any engineers, that begin before and end well after the use of any particular AI or MLalgorithm or approach. The critical role of data in such work is well established and represents a necessaryperspective in preparing BMEs to lead technically competent and morally defensible AI/ML work [6], [7].Our data skills curriculum is actively evolving. We aim to increase student engagement in data skills-relatedlearning longitudinally. Many programs have created specific course(s), majors, or minors in data science[2],[8]. While adding a major or minor is effective for students who choose this type of coursework, we see abroader need to create a variety of opportunities that are tailored to the
maycapture and analyze one of their own physiological signals. Flash-labs are designed to takebetween 20-30 minutes in class, with about 60 minutes of follow up work to be completedoutside of class. Students execute the activities, then report on and discuss their findings withtheir classmates in small groups and through reports and reflective posts in their DSP-Portfolio.DSP-PortfolioOriginally, after completing each Flash-lab, students submitted their findings and observations asassignments onto the learning management system (LMS). However, this was limiting becauseonly the instructor got to review the assignments. To further enhance in-class collaboration andengagement, in the spring of 2022, DSP-portfolios were added for students to share their
,” Commun. Teach., vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 116–129, Oct. 2008, doi: 10.1080/17404620802382680.[10] J. Gilmore, M. A. Maher, D. F. Feldon, and B. Timmerman, “Exploration of factors related to the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate teaching assistants’ teaching orientations,” Stud. High. Educ., vol. 39, no. 10, pp. 1910–1928, Nov. 2014, doi: 10.1080/03075079.2013.806459.[11] M. Di Benedetti, S. Plumb, and S. B. M. Beck, “Effective use of peer teaching and self-reflection for the pedagogical training of graduate teaching assistants in engineering,” Eur. J. Eng. Educ., pp. 1–16, Apr. 2022, doi: 10.1080/03043797.2022.2054313.[12] J. Agarwal, G. Bucks, and T. J. Murphy, “A Literature
as social support for learning, understandingmetacognition when designing a course, and alternative student assessment or grading. Treisman[4] was able to demonstrate that students’ learning significantly improved when they movedfrom working alone to working in study groups where they could debate problem solvingmethods and answers. McGuire [5] has described metacognition in learning as involvingplanning, assessing, controlling, and adjusting techniques of learning. Incorporatingmetacognitive strategies of reflection and self-questioning into a course leads to improvedlearning. Incorporating peer-to-peer learning, metacognition, as well as other pedagogicaltechniques can disrupt the illusion that traditional methods of instruction are
biomedical labs. This range of experiences reflects theexperience level of the cohort, offering us a representative sample for understanding studentexperiences. Furthermore, our article focuses on depth rather than breadth, encouraging athorough exploration and understanding of learners' experiences.Data Analysis: We use a hybrid approach for our analysis, in which we conduct deductive andinductive analyses. We transcribed the audio recordings of our interview using Otter.ai andcleaned the data to ensure correctness and logical flow. We used the four-stage learning model ofELT as overarching themes for the deductive analysis. Under these themes, we intend to generatecodes that capture precise insights into learners' experiences in the VR labs
to performtwo interviews with stakeholders or individuals integral to the business. The experienceculminated with a project that required students to create a solution related to disabilitypolicy, workforce management, health/behavioral safety, or technology in the company. Inthe classroom, students were assigned complementary readings on the design process,completed weekly reflections on their learning experiences and weekly readings, anddiscussed the project, the progress, and the resources they required from either faculty orindustry mentors.Being a pilot program, a few challenges were identified. The challenges include framing anadequate assessment framework and balancing the synergy between the work studentsperform inside and outside
, charge andmomentum balance in biological systems. A total of 41 undergraduates were enrolled in the courseconsisting of 20 students who identified as female and 21 students who identified as male. Ofthese, all participants completed the team assignment and 39 completed the individual reflections(19 females, 20 males).3.2 Study DesignStudents had two weeks to complete the ’Music of the Heart’ assignment [30]. The assignmentwas timed with the heart sound related lectures to ensure students had adequate backgroundphysiologically to complete the assignment. The learning objectives of the assignment were to 1)articulate the differences between a normal and diseased heart sound 2) connect differences inheart sounds to physiological causes and 3
intervention implemented in the course is a case study based on athoughtful 2009 article by Jerome Gropman, entitled Robots that Care [3]. In this activity, allstudents read and discuss not only the technical challenges involved in creating assistive robots,but also explore and reflect on how to implement and regulate the temperament of the robots.From discussion in class, the topic of temperament seemed to engage students, and that is whatprompted this investigation.The activity was delivered in two parts. In the first part, the entire cohort of nineteen studentsenrolled in the Summer of 2023 semester read and reflected on the article. In the second part, thestudents responded to a questionnaire posted on the learning management system. Many of
supporting STEM faculty on STEM education research projects.Dr. Sharon Miller, Purdue University Sharon Miller, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. She received a BS degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Purdue University and MS and PhD degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Her educational efforts focus on biomedical engineering discipline-based educational research, including design self-efficacy, project-based learning, critical reflection in ethics, and high-impact practices. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024Work in Progress: A Multi-level Undergraduate Curricular
to make proposals for changes in the curriculum: How could gaps or deficienciesbe addressed? What other data are needed before making changes? (Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5).Again, faculty were highly engaged at each step: 100% of faculty teaching an undergraduatecourse were interviewed, and at the second department retreat, ~70% of faculty participated,including 18 tenure-track faculty (10 full, 4 associate, and 4 assistant), 2 teaching-track faculty,and 1 lecturer. At the conclusion of this retreat, attendees were asked to complete an exit survey.Responses showed clear appreciation for our approach, as well as an acknowledgement that weas a department have work to do together on the curriculum to better reflect our new objectives.Future
• How does vascular stiffness • Calculate wave speed using propagation and affect wave propagation? multiple pressure waveforms. reflections Sarcomere force- • What are the mechanisms of the • Simulate sarcomere experiments tension Frank-Starling relationship? using the Hill model [7]. relationships Ventricular • What are end-systolic and end- • Simulate pathologies using elastance diastolic elastance? pressure-volume relationships. • Use a lumped parameter model to Systems-level • What are the physiological simulate an
, sophomore laboratory course?IntroductionThis work-in-progress study assesses the impact of reflective practices, including peer reviewusing a co-created rubric, on written assignments in a sophomore-level, biomedical engineeringlaboratory course. As an introduction to experimentation, the course covers the statistical designof experiments and the quantification of measurement data quality. Topics include problem-solving skills, scientific writing, and hypothesis generation amongst other research-related topics.Evidence-based pedagogy used in the course includes standards-based grading and reflection.This study is motivated by work demonstrating the inclusive and effective nature of peer review,co-created rubrics, and standards-based grading. An
the first chapter and reinforced in eachfollowing chapter [3]. When teaching a course that fosters both process and content mastery, carefulattention must be paid to problem-solving processes, which require a conceptual understanding. Previousstudies have shown that several factors lead to success in problem-solving such as student interest in theprompts, clear explanations, and engaging in reflective practices [1].In order to measure students’ attitudes toward a course, we leveraged findings from two related studies,where students were asked to answer a questionnaire with 60 questions related to disposition that was takenfrom the following validated instruments: the Index of Learning Styles[4], the Growth Mindset Scale[6],and sense of
lacking.The goal of this work-in-progress is to establish methods that foster the development of effectiveteaching teams through the creation of upper-level senior/graduate BME courses. The authorsdeveloped a series of six virtual workshops to facilitate collaborative design of five BME coursesand the co-creation of team competencies and values, with the goal of fostering effectivelearning and team teaching outcomes. By the end of the collaborative course design program,teaching teams submitted their course syllabi for college approval, drafted an orientation for newteam members, and added a reflection of the team teaching to the post-delivery course evaluationprocess. The aim of sharing the process as well as the results of the workshop series
groups from countries where travel outof the country may be difficult, mean that virtual conferences and presentations are goingto continue to happen in some capacity[4]. In the post-pandemic age, pre-recordedscientific presentations have become more commonplace, including at biomedicalengineering related conferences, including the Biomedical Engineering Society AnnualConference. Presenting virtually and preparing pre-recoded presentations requires adifferent skill set than in-person presentations, and therefore educators should considerimplementing them in the classroom to help students develop these skills early on. Additionally, pre-recorded presentations allow the student to reflect on and self-assess their presentation skills by
’ learning capability throughindividual development and peer engagement. The course design allows students to activelyparticipate in learning as a “resident” living in a “neighborhood”. Besides the traditionalindividual work, various group activities are performed inside one group and among multiplegroups, or the “households”. Students feel more obligated to better performance and high-qualitylearning outcomes. Another focal point of this study is the assessment of student learning underthe proposed course frame, where tailored tutorials and guidance are vital. Although supportfrom the teaching team is essential in this “neighborhood”, we still want to put students in thecenter as the leader of their study. The ongoing data collection reflects the
CD help students successfullyengage in innovation tasks. This study was conducted within a BME program with an IBL framework. Theparticipants included undergraduate and graduate students who completed surveys at thebeginning and end of the semester to capture changes in CD and ISE. The CD survey wasadapted from a validated scale to reflect IBL-specific scenarios, assessing students' psychologicaldiscomfort when confronting conflicting ideas or ambiguous challenges. ISE was measuredusing an established scale, which evaluates confidence in completing innovation-related taskssuch as generating creative solutions and addressing complex problems. Data collection wasfacilitated through the MOOCIBL platform (a custom LMS) to ensure