Alemdar, M., & Baptiste Porter, D., & Rehmat, A. P., & Helms, M., & Towner, A. A., & Moore, R., & Rosen, J. H., & Varnedoe, J., & Weissburg, M. (2023, June), Biologically Inspired Design For High School Engineering Students  (Work in Progress)  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42371

\bibitem{asee_peer_42371}
  Alemdar, M., \& Baptiste Porter, D., \& Rehmat, A. P., \& Helms, M., \& Towner, A. A., \& Moore, R., \& Rosen, J. H., \& Varnedoe, J., \& Weissburg, M. (2023, June), \emph{Biologically Inspired Design For High School Engineering Students  (Work in Progress)}
  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland.
  10.18260/1-2--42371

Meltem Alemdar, Dyanne Baptiste Porter, Abeera P. Rehmat, Michael Helms, Alexandra A. Towner, Roxanne Moore, Jeffrey H Rosen, Julia Varnedoe, and Marc Weissburg.  "Biologically Inspired Design For High School Engineering Students  (Work in Progress)".  2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2023.  https://peer.asee.org/42371 Internet.  05 May, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_42371}
  Meltem Alemdar, Dyanne Baptiste Porter, Abeera P. Rehmat, Michael Helms, Alexandra A. Towner, Roxanne Moore, Jeffrey H Rosen, Julia Varnedoe, and Marc Weissburg.
  "Biologically Inspired Design For High School Engineering Students  (Work in Progress)".
  \emph{2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2023.
  https://peer.asee.org/42371 Internet.  05 May, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_42371
author = "Meltem Alemdar, Dyanne Baptiste Porter, Abeera P. Rehmat, Michael Helms, Alexandra A. Towner, Roxanne Moore, Jeffrey H Rosen, Julia Varnedoe, and Marc Weissburg"
title = "Biologically Inspired Design For High School Engineering Students  (Work in Progress)"
booktitle = "2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2023"
month = "June"
address = "Baltimore , Maryland"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/42371}
number = {10.18260/1-2--42371}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Biologically inspired design (BID) has gained attention in undergraduate and graduate engineering programs throughout the United States, and more post-secondary institutions are beginning to implement it into their engineering curriculum [1], [2]. However, little has been done to introduce BID concepts more formally into the K-12 curriculum. Consequently, a research study funded by the National Science Foundation focused on developing a BID integrated engineering curriculum for high school students. The curriculum is designed to integrate BID into the engineering design process (EDP) by leveraging analogical design tools that facilitate a transfer of biological strategies to design challenges. This enables students to understand both the engineering problem and the biological system that could be used to inspire design solutions. In this paper, we describe students’ application of BID integration in the engineering design process and their experiences utilizing BID as they solve design challenges.

The curriculum was pilot tested in two 9th grade engineering classrooms across two schools during Spring 2022. Data was collected from four groups of students (n=12) enrolled in the engineering courses across two schools. The study includes classroom observations, student artifacts, and student focus groups. We utilized qualitative content analysis, a descriptive approach to analyzing student data [3], [4], to uncover the meaning and presence of text, messages, images, and transcriptions of dialogues [4]. In this study, we aim to capture the evidence of students’ experiences and engagement with BID concepts. 

The preliminarily findings illustrate that student groups enjoyed BID activities presented in the curriculum as they promoted students’ exploration of biological systems. BID integration allowed students to view nature differently, which some students indicated they had not previously employed for their design solutions. Although some students mentioned BID activities that helped them during the brainstorming phase of the design process, they were unable to explain BID integration in their final design solutions, unless prompted by the teacher.  Furthermore, across the student groups, students indicated that prototype and test was the most engaging stage of the EDP since during this stage they were able to test their designs. This research is novel in its focus on understanding high school students’ experiences with the integration of BID in engineering and has important implications for diversifying engineering in K-12 education.




AU  - Meltem Alemdar
AU  - Dyanne Baptiste Porter
AU  - Abeera P. Rehmat
AU  - Michael Helms
AU  - Alexandra A. Towner
AU  - Roxanne Moore
AU  - Jeffrey H Rosen
AU  - Julia Varnedoe
AU  - Marc Weissburg
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Biologically Inspired Design For High School Engineering Students  (Work in Progress)
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/42371
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--42371
ER  -