Research Initiation: Enhancing the Learning Outcomes of Empathic Innovation in Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Projects
- Conference
- Location
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Virtual On line
- Publication Date
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June 22, 2020
- Start Date
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June 22, 2020
- End Date
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June 26, 2021
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
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NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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13
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--35150
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/35150
- Download Count
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521
Paper Authors
Nan Kong Purdue University at West Lafayette
Nan Kong is an Associate Professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. He received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. His research interest includes big-data health analytics. He is actively in collaborating with engineering education researchers on improving manifestation of empathy in biomedical engineering innovation.
Senay Purzer
Purdue University at West Lafayette
orcid.org/0000-0003-0784-6079
Ṣenay Purzer is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering Education.
Lindsey B. Payne Purdue University at West Lafayette
Dr. Lindsey Payne is a Director in the Office of Engagement at Purdue University coordinating service-learning programs and initiatives. She has a courtesy appointment in Environmental and Ecological Engineering where she teaches a service-learning course in which interdisciplinary teams of students collaboratively identify stormwater management problems, co-design solutions, maintain budgets, and evaluate impacts with community partners. Dr. Payne’s research sits at the intersection of sustainability, teaching and learning, and engagement focusing on transdisciplinary decision-making frameworks in community-based design projects. She also specializes in the assessment of instructional effectiveness and student learning in active learning environments. She is the recipient of multiple teaching awards, and is the Chair of the Teaching Academy. She has a B.A in Biological Sciences from DePauw University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Ecological Sciences and Engineering from Purdue University. She has also worked professionally in the non-profit and secondary education sectors, and currently serves on multiple community-based environmental boards.
Eunhye Kim Purdue University at West Lafayette
Eunhye Kim is a Ph.D. student and research assistant in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Her research interests lie in engineering design education, especially for engineering students’ entrepreneurial mindsets and multidisciplinary teamwork skills in design and innovation projects. She earned a B.S. in Electronics Engineering and an M.B.A. in South Korea and worked as a hardware development engineer and an IT strategic planner in the industry.
Carolina Vivas-Valencia Purdue University
Carolina Vivas-Valencia is a Ph.D. student in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette IN. Her research interests lie in simulation modeling and optimization in population health, healthcare data analytics and outcomes research, community-based health operations research, and innovation education in engineering.
Abstract
One of the aims of biomedical engineering is to facilitate the development of innovative technologies to address socioeconomic challenges in healthy living and independent aging. Realizing such innovations requires empathy, agility, and creativity. This project aims to support the professional development of a competent biomedical engineer workforce that can effectively accomplish emphatic innovation, and one that can frame and re-frame problems through the innovation process. Our research examined how engineering students empathize with users and develop empathic abilities that have implications on their design innovation skills. The project team developed empathic innovation workshops and embedded them into existing biomedical engineering capstone courses. Data were collected using surveys, student project reports, ideation tasks, and observations. These workshops resulted in significant changes in students’ emphatic tendencies. From our qualitative studies, we also conjectured that the overall empathic potency of a student design team helped facilitate problem re-framing based on user input. These findings contribute to the literature on the critical role of innovation behaviors in relationship to empathic design tendencies in the context of biomedical engineering, as well as suggest instructional practices designed to promote empathy, agility, and creativity.
Kong, N., & Purzer, S., & Payne, L. B., & Kim, E., & Vivas-Valencia, C. (2020, June), Research Initiation: Enhancing the Learning Outcomes of Empathic Innovation in Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Projects Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35150
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