Benefits of a Low-Stakes Show and Tell Session in Biomedical Engineering Design

Rebecca Alcock; John P. Puccinelli

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Biomedical Engineering Division (BED) Technical Session 2: Experiential Learning in Biomedical Engineering
Tagged Division: Biomedical Engineering Division (BED)
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42360
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42360
Download Count: 152

Paper Authors

biography

Rebecca Alcock

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Rebecca is a PhD student in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Prior to her PhD, she received her BS and MS degrees in Biomedical Engineering. Her work focuses on global health applications of engineering.

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biography

John P. Puccinelli University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Dr. Puccinelli is the Associate Chair of the Undergraduate Program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He began here as student near the start of the UW-BME program and earned his BS, MS, and PhD in BME. He is interested in hands-on instruction related to biomaterials and tissue engineering, as well as design.

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Abstract

As design is the foundation of engineering, our Biomedical Engineering (BME) students design, build and test solutions to real-world biomedical problems in small teams nearly every semester as part of the curriculum. In these design courses, students deliver two presentations to their instructors and peers. The preliminary presentation is an oral, slideshow-style presentation to a subset of the design teams (~8 groups in one room) five weeks into the semester. The outcome of this session is to obtain feedback related to the problem, background, design ideas/evaluation and semester plan. The final poster presentation is open to the public and showcases all BME Design teams’ resulting products. During both, students must provide written peer feedback. However, many students choose to provide additional verbal feedback during the sessions. Teams found fellow students’ suggestions to be uniquely valuable, but in the case of the poster session, this feedback came too late. In response, we devised a low-stakes Show and Tell session which takes place directly between existing presentations to capitalize on our students’ diverse talents. The intended outcomes of the session were threefold: first, provide a formal opportunity for peer-to-peer learning; second, further the achievement of ABET Outcome 3: communicate effectively with a range of audiences through the repetitive delivery of an elevator pitch; third, drive teams to prototype earlier in the semester. The Show and Tell session took place in the same groups as the preliminary presentations since teams already knew other projects’ background statements and initial ideas. The teams were instructed to bring ONLY their current prototype and/or representation of their final design (no slides, poster, etc.). To maintain a low-stakes environment, involvement was not graded. However, the session was moderated by an instructor in a speed-dating format. Teams were split in half so that one group would present and the other would rotate around the room. Groups would then switch to ensure all students presented and provided feedback. The 60-second elevator pitches were composed of four key elements: 1. What’s the problem?; 2. What’s the solution/value?; 3. What progress has been made? What are the major milestones?; and finally, 4. Call to action: What help or direction do they need? In total, groups had five minutes for the pitch and discussion before switching to the next team. Students were given time at the end, however, to follow up with their teammates, classmates, and instructors regarding key take-aways. This provided teams the opportunity to show fellow classmates their recent accomplishments and obtain extensive feedback on their first generation prototypes/designs. It also offered students a chance to gain experience in quickly evaluating others’ designs and providing constructive feedback from an outside perspective. Students commented that the session forced them to prototype sooner than they had planned, their peers knew of helpful resources they were unaware of, and their peers gave suggestions they had not considered. Results will be presented from student survey data and the various iterations of this session through the pandemic will be provided.

Citation
Format

Alcock, R., & Puccinelli, J. P. (2023, June), Benefits of a Low-Stakes Show and Tell Session in Biomedical Engineering Design Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42360

TY - CPAPER
AB - As design is the foundation of engineering, our Biomedical Engineering (BME) students design, build and test solutions to real-world biomedical problems in small teams nearly every semester as part of the curriculum. In these design courses, students deliver two presentations to their instructors and peers. The preliminary presentation is an oral, slideshow-style presentation to a subset of the design teams (~8 groups in one room) five weeks into the semester. The outcome of this session is to obtain feedback related to the problem, background, design ideas/evaluation and semester plan. The final poster presentation is open to the public and showcases all BME Design teams’ resulting products. During both, students must provide written peer feedback. However, many students choose to provide additional verbal feedback during the sessions. Teams found fellow students’ suggestions to be uniquely valuable, but in the case of the poster session, this feedback came too late. In response, we devised a low-stakes Show and Tell session which takes place directly between existing presentations to capitalize on our students’ diverse talents. The intended outcomes of the session were threefold: first, provide a formal opportunity for peer-to-peer learning; second, further the achievement of ABET Outcome 3: communicate effectively with a range of audiences through the repetitive delivery of an elevator pitch; third, drive teams to prototype earlier in the semester.

The Show and Tell session took place in the same groups as the preliminary presentations since teams already knew other projects’ background statements and initial ideas. The teams were instructed to bring ONLY their current prototype and/or representation of their final design (no slides, poster, etc.). To maintain a low-stakes environment, involvement was not graded. However, the session was moderated by an instructor in a speed-dating format. Teams were split in half so that one group would present and the other would rotate around the room. Groups would then switch to ensure all students presented and provided feedback. The 60-second elevator pitches were composed of four key elements: 1. What’s the problem?; 2. What’s the solution/value?; 3. What progress has been made? What are the major milestones?; and finally, 4. Call to action: What help or direction do they need? In total, groups had five minutes for the pitch and discussion before switching to the next team. Students were given time at the end, however, to follow up with their teammates, classmates, and instructors regarding key take-aways.

This provided teams the opportunity to show fellow classmates their recent accomplishments and obtain extensive feedback on their first generation prototypes/designs. It also offered students a chance to gain experience in quickly evaluating others’ designs and providing constructive feedback from an outside perspective. Students commented that the session forced them to prototype sooner than they had planned, their peers knew of helpful resources they were unaware of, and their peers gave suggestions they had not considered. Results will be presented from student survey data and the various iterations of this session through the pandemic will be provided.
AU - Rebecca Alcock
AU - John P. Puccinelli
CY - Baltimore , Maryland
DA - 2023/06/25
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Benefits of a Low-Stakes Show and Tell Session in Biomedical Engineering Design
UR - https://peer.asee.org/42360
DO - 10.18260/1-2--42360
ER -