Board 15: Work in Progress: Cultivating Growth of Systems Thinking Habit of Mind over a Five Course Fundamental Sequence

Lisa Weeks; Karissa B Tilbury

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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) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Biomedical Engineering Division (BED)
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42484
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42484
Download Count: 103

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Paper Authors

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Lisa Weeks University of Maine

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Lisa Weeks is a lecturer of Biomedical Enginering in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Maine since 2017. She teaches several of the core fundamental courses including hands on laboratory courses.

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Karissa B Tilbury

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Abstract

Biomedical engineering as a discipline is a diverse field; yet a central tenant is problem solving skills leveraging a strong foundation in mathematics, engineering, and biology to create new solutions to existing challenges in human health. Problem solving skills are developed through a series of courses that teach the foundational knowledge while developing engineering “Habits of Mind”, which are defined as modes of thinking in which STEM students develop strategies to transfer their existing knowledge to new contexts. The breadth of biomedical engineering demands nimble, systematic problem-solving strategies, a core component of Engineering “Habits of Mind.” Here, we present a plan using a fading scaffold between five core interconnected biomedical engineering courses during the middle years of a traditional biomedical engineering curriculum: three traditional lecture-based courses and two laboratory-based courses. The two laboratory-based courses are hands-on discovery that focus on student implementation of general accounting principles of mass and energy of biomedical systems. During these courses, we will cultivate student’s systems-thinking approach through a series of activities. For example, during the sophomore courses students will be provided sample solutions to mass & energy systems that purposefully contain errors in computational, estimation, and mathematical rigor as defined by Boutin’s rubric to assess problem solving skills. Students will be asked to find, correct, and explain the error type and correct the solution building their critical response skills. In the junior year, students take both lecture-based and laboratory-based courses simultaneously. The core junior lecture-based course focuses on characterizing the dynamics of biological systems using both analytical and numerical solution strategies. This course connects themes from biology, physics, chemistry, and the fundamental biomedical engineering courses from the sophomore year to define ‘generalized variables’ providing a systematic approach to nimbly cross disciplinary boundaries. Students’ problem-solving skills from representative homework assignments from this course will be assessed using the rubric developed by Boutin. The two lab courses are sequential, and the lab activities are increasingly open-ended during the sequence. As part of this longitudinal assessment of system thinking, the students will clearly present their experimental plan, calculations, assumptions, and anticipated results and pitfalls as part of a ‘preflight’ check occurring ahead of the hands-on laboratory activities. This ‘preflight’ check will assess all five Engineering Habits of Mind presented in Boutin. The development of students’ system thinking will be assessed at the beginning and end of each core course. Student cohort data will be compared both the start and finish of each course and at the beginning and completion of the entire five course sequence. Additionally, given that we have a lab course and a lecture-based course taken during the same semester, we may be able to differentiate the impact of hands-on activities vs. lecture-based courses for the formation of system thinkers.

Citation
Format

Weeks, L., & Tilbury, K. B. (2023, June), Board 15: Work in Progress: Cultivating Growth of Systems Thinking Habit of Mind over a Five Course Fundamental Sequence Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42484

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                       Biomedical engineering as a discipline is a diverse field; yet a central tenant is problem solving skills leveraging a strong foundation in mathematics, engineering, and biology to create new solutions to existing challenges in human health. Problem solving skills are developed through a series of courses that teach the foundational knowledge while developing engineering “Habits of Mind”, which are defined as modes of thinking in which STEM students develop strategies to transfer their existing knowledge to new contexts. The breadth of biomedical engineering demands nimble, systematic problem-solving strategies, a core component of Engineering “Habits of Mind.” 
                    Here, we present a plan using a fading scaffold between five core interconnected biomedical engineering courses during the middle years of a traditional biomedical engineering curriculum: three traditional lecture-based courses and two laboratory-based courses. The two laboratory-based courses are hands-on discovery that focus on student implementation of general accounting principles of mass and energy of biomedical systems. During these courses, we will cultivate student’s systems-thinking approach through a series of activities. For example, during the sophomore courses students will be provided sample solutions to mass &amp;amp; energy systems that purposefully contain errors in computational, estimation, and mathematical rigor as defined by Boutin’s rubric to assess problem solving skills. Students will be asked to find, correct, and explain the error type and correct the solution building their critical response skills. In the junior year, students take both lecture-based and laboratory-based courses simultaneously. The core junior lecture-based course focuses on characterizing the dynamics of biological systems using both analytical and numerical solution strategies. This course connects themes from biology, physics, chemistry, and the fundamental biomedical engineering courses from the sophomore year to define ‘generalized variables’ providing a systematic approach to nimbly cross disciplinary boundaries. Students’ problem-solving skills from representative homework assignments from this course will be assessed using the rubric developed by Boutin. The two lab courses are sequential, and the lab activities are increasingly open-ended during the sequence. As part of this longitudinal assessment of system thinking, the students will clearly present their experimental plan, calculations, assumptions, and anticipated results and pitfalls as part of a ‘preflight’ check occurring ahead of the hands-on laboratory activities. This ‘preflight’ check will assess all five Engineering Habits of Mind presented in Boutin. The development of students’ system thinking will be assessed at the beginning and end of each core course. Student cohort data will be compared both the start and finish of each course and at the beginning and completion of the entire five course sequence. Additionally, given that we have a lab course and a lecture-based course taken during the same semester, we may be able to differentiate the impact of hands-on activities vs. lecture-based courses for the formation of system thinkers. 

AU  - Lisa Weeks
AU  - Karissa B Tilbury
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 15: Work in Progress: Cultivating Growth of Systems Thinking Habit of Mind over a Five Course Fundamental Sequence
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/42484
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--42484
ER  -