Board # 8 :#FunTimesWithTheTA—A Series of Fun Supplementary Lessons for Introductory Level Biomedical Instrumentation Students (Work in Progress)

Orlando Sanguinette Hoilett; Asem Farooq Aboelzahab; Erica Amanda Layow; Jacqueline Callihan Linnes; Chi Hwan Lee

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Biomedical Division Poster Session
Tagged Division: Biomedical
Page Count: 5
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--27929
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/27929
Download Count: 444

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Paper Authors

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Orlando Sanguinette Hoilett Purdue University

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Orlando is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. Orlando graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering. His academic interests involve developing wearable sensors for mobile health platforms and developing engaging engineering design activities for undergraduate students. He has several years of experience with analog circuit design and embedded systems. His previous work includes developing an impedance analyzer for a microfluidic blood-brain barrier model. On the education side, he has developed a number of lab activities for first year and junior level Biomedical Engineering students. Aside from his academic pursuits, he is an avid electronics hobbyist and tinkerer. He spends most of his free time developing open source hardware for students, educators, and makers alike.

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Asem Farooq Aboelzahab Purdue University orcid.org/0000-0001-8111-3274

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Asem Aboelzahab is the Lab and Assessment Coordinator in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. He has been at Purdue since 2014. He instructs/coordinates undergraduate labs including Bioinstrumentation, Biotransport, and Capstone Senior Design. He also serves as the school's ABET coordinator. Asem received his BS and MS degrees in Bioengineering from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.

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Erica Amanda Layow Purdue University

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Erica Layow is an instructional developer at the Center for Instructional Excellence at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.

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Jacqueline Callihan Linnes Purdue University orcid.org/0000-0003-4962-0908

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Dr. Jacqueline Callihan Linnes is an assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. She earned her Ph.D. in Bioengineering and certificate in Global Health from the University of Washington. She was a Fogarty engineering fellow in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Little Devices laboratory at MIT before moving to Boston University’s Biomedical Engineering department where she received a NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellowship to work with Dr. Catherine Klapperich developing molecular diagnostics for point-of-care pathogen detection. Dr. Linnes's current research bridges innovations in basic science and translational diagnostic techniques in order to develop non-invasive, rapid detection technologies that efficiently diagnose and monitor diseases at the point of care. Her teaching focuses experiential learning and co-creation of devices and technologies via user-centered design.

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Chi Hwan Lee Purdue University

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Chi Hwan Lee is an Assistant Professor at Purdue University, with appointments in Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, and Center for Implantable Devices. His research focuses on flexible, stretchable, skin-wearable, and/or dissolvable electronics for a broad range of biomedical applications. Prior to joining at Purdue, he was a postdoctoral research associate in Department of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He obtained a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2013. He received dual B.S. degrees from Illinois Institute of Technology and Ajou University in 2007 with double majors in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering.

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Abstract

#FunTimesWithTheTA – A Series of Fun, Supplementary Lessons for Introductory Level Biomedical Instrumentation Students (Work-in-Progress)

Obtaining competency in engineering design requires hours of hands-on practice beyond the time and scope of a university course1. As a result, we are pilot testing a series of supplementary active-learning experiences for an introductory instrumentation course in a Biomedical Engineering program. The active-learning experiences were implemented as a subsection of normally scheduled office hours with the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). The experiences were offered to students on a voluntary basis with no added incentive other than they were fun and practical ways to learn. The experiences reinforced iterative techniques in circuit design, measurement, and analysis taught in the weekly lab activities. The aim was to provide a low-risk, low-stress opportunity for students to practice their circuit designing skills without fearing how their performance may affect their grade. Subsequently, the students can explore new and more challenging topics with more freedom and flexibility. Additionally, by incorporating the use of hashtags into the active-learning experiences, students can share their creativity with social media and engage in the growing “maker” community as a means to continue their learning.

For the first installment of #FunTimesWithTheTA, students built PulseSim, a Finger Photoplethysmograph (Heartbeat) Waveform Simulator. PulseSim was originally developed by a GTA as a hobby project and published on Instructables.com, a popular platform for presenting “Do-It-Yourself” and “How-To” projects. The original Instructable was adapted to reflect the learning outcomes of the Biomedical Instrumentation course. Students were provided with a set of instructions on building the components of the circuit. Before the students began building, a short description of the lesson was presented, providing the basis of the circuit design, functionality, learning outcomes, and real-world applications for the technique. The students were divided into pairs, allowing each student to have meaningful input into the construction of the circuit. Each group built and tested a part of the circuit and combined their respective parts together and observed the result on an oscilloscope. For future installments of #FunTimesWithTheTA, students will build PulseFit, an auto-calibrating optical heart rate monitor. Students will be introduced to sensors, such as photodiodes, that are used in biophysiological measurements.

We will assess how #FunTimesWithTheTA increases the academic performance of students in the course compared to students who did not participate. Due to the introductory nature of the class, we will assess how well the students operate the basic instruments in the lab such as the oscilloscope and function generator, and how well students are able to analyze circuit diagrams and build a working circuit. We will also assess students by means of surveys to qualitatively gauge their progression in the course. We hypothesize that the supplementary lessons will increase student performance in the course as well as increase their comfort level with circuit design in future classes such as Senior Design.

1. Dym, C. L., A. M. Agogino, O. Eris, D. D. Frey, and L. J. Leifer. Engineering design thinking, teaching, and learning. J. Eng. Educ. 94:103–120, 2005.

Citation
Format

Hoilett, O. S., & Aboelzahab, A. F., & Layow, E. A., & Linnes, J. C., & Lee, C. H. (2017, June), Board # 8 :#FunTimesWithTheTA—A Series of Fun Supplementary Lessons for Introductory Level Biomedical Instrumentation Students (Work in Progress) Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--27929

TY - CPAPER
AB - #FunTimesWithTheTA – A Series of Fun, Supplementary Lessons for Introductory Level Biomedical Instrumentation Students (Work-in-Progress)

Obtaining competency in engineering design requires hours of hands-on practice beyond the time and scope of a university course1. As a result, we are pilot testing a series of supplementary active-learning experiences for an introductory instrumentation course in a Biomedical Engineering program. The active-learning experiences were implemented as a subsection of normally scheduled office hours with the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). The experiences were offered to students on a voluntary basis with no added incentive other than they were fun and practical ways to learn. The experiences reinforced iterative techniques in circuit design, measurement, and analysis taught in the weekly lab activities. The aim was to provide a low-risk, low-stress opportunity for students to practice their circuit designing skills without fearing how their performance may affect their grade. Subsequently, the students can explore new and more challenging topics with more freedom and flexibility. Additionally, by incorporating the use of hashtags into the active-learning experiences, students can share their creativity with social media and engage in the growing “maker” community as a means to continue their learning.

For the first installment of #FunTimesWithTheTA, students built PulseSim, a Finger Photoplethysmograph (Heartbeat) Waveform Simulator. PulseSim was originally developed by a GTA as a hobby project and published on Instructables.com, a popular platform for presenting “Do-It-Yourself” and “How-To” projects. The original Instructable was adapted to reflect the learning outcomes of the Biomedical Instrumentation course. Students were provided with a set of instructions on building the components of the circuit. Before the students began building, a short description of the lesson was presented, providing the basis of the circuit design, functionality, learning outcomes, and real-world applications for the technique. The students were divided into pairs, allowing each student to have meaningful input into the construction of the circuit. Each group built and tested a part of the circuit and combined their respective parts together and observed the result on an oscilloscope. For future installments of #FunTimesWithTheTA, students will build PulseFit, an auto-calibrating optical heart rate monitor. Students will be introduced to sensors, such as photodiodes, that are used in biophysiological measurements.

We will assess how #FunTimesWithTheTA increases the academic performance of students in the course compared to students who did not participate. Due to the introductory nature of the class, we will assess how well the students operate the basic instruments in the lab such as the oscilloscope and function generator, and how well students are able to analyze circuit diagrams and build a working circuit. We will also assess students by means of surveys to qualitatively gauge their progression in the course. We hypothesize that the supplementary lessons will increase student performance in the course as well as increase their comfort level with circuit design in future classes such as Senior Design.

1. Dym, C. L., A. M. Agogino, O. Eris, D. D. Frey, and L. J. Leifer. Engineering design thinking, teaching, and learning. J. Eng. Educ. 94:103–120, 2005.
AU - Orlando Sanguinette Hoilett
AU - Asem Farooq Aboelzahab
AU - Erica Amanda Layow
AU - Jacqueline Callihan Linnes
AU - Chi Hwan Lee
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Board # 8 :#FunTimesWithTheTA—A Series of Fun Supplementary Lessons for Introductory Level Biomedical Instrumentation Students (Work in Progress)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/27929
DO - 10.18260/1-2--27929
ER -