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1. Transforming Biomedical Engineering Education Through Instructional Design

   Huang-Saad, Aileen Springer (January 2020, IJEE International Journal of Engineering Education)

   The discipline of biomedical engineering (BME) was born from recognition that engineers need to help solve emerging biologically based problems that impact medical device design, therapeutics, diagnostics, and basic discovery. While economic indicators point to significant growth in the field, BME students are reporting significant challenges in competing for jobs against traditional engineering graduates (e.g. mechanical and electrical) and finding post-undergraduate employment. BME programs are therefore in great need of curricula that promote clear professional formation and prepare graduates to be effective in a fast growing and changing industry. Moreover, these changes must be implemented in a challenging environment in which technology and stakeholder (e.g. industry, medical schools, regulatory agencies) priorities are changing rapidly. In 2016, our department created a new model of instructional change in which the undergraduate curriculum is closely tied to the evolution of the field of BME, and in which faculty, staff, and students work together to define and implement current content and best practices in teaching. Through an Iterative Instructional Design Sequence, the department has implemented seven BME-in-Practice modules over two years. A total of 36 faculty, post docs, doctoral candidates, master’s students, and fourth year students have participated in creating the one-credit BME-in-Practice Modules exploring Tissue Engineering, Medical Device Development, Drug Development, Regulations, and Neural Engineering. A total of 23 post docs, graduate students and undergraduates participated on a teaching team responsible for teaching a BME-in-Practice module. Each module was developed to be four weeks long and met at least six hour/week. Two of the seven Modules were iterated upon from year one to year two. Modules were designed to be highly experiential where the majority of work can be completed in the classroom. A total of 50 unique undergraduates elected to enroll in the seven Modules, 73.33% of which were women. Data collected over the last two years indicate that Module students perceived significant learning outcomes and the Module teaching teams were successful in creating student centered environments. Results suggest that this mechanism enables effective, rapid adaptation of BME curriculum to meet the changing needs of BME students, while increasing student-centered engagement in the engineering classroom. Findings also suggest that this curricular is an example of an intentional curricular change that is particularly impactful for women engineering students. 

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2. The IT-BME Project: Integrating Inclusive Teaching in Biomedical Engineering Through Faculty/Graduate Partnerships

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s43683-024-00137-7  

   Jaimes, Patricia; Bottorff, Elizabeth; Hopper, Theo; Jilberto, Javiera; King, Jessica; Wall, Monica; Coronel, Maria; Jensen, Karin; Mays, Elizabeth; Morris, Aaron; et al (July 2024, Biomedical Engineering Education)

   To broaden efforts for improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in biomedical engineering (BME) education—a key area of emphasis is the integration of inclusive teaching practices. While BME faculty generally support these efforts, translating support into action remains challenging. This project aimed to address this need through a 3-phase inclusive teaching training, consisting of graduate students, faculty, and engineering education consultants. In Phase I, graduate students and faculty participated in a 6-week learning community on inclusive teaching (Foundational Learning). In Phase II, graduate students were paired with faculty to modify or develop new inclusive teaching materials to be integrated into a BME course (Experiential Learning). Phase III was the implementation of these materials. To assess Phases I & II, graduate student participants reflected on their experiences on the project. To assess Phase III, surveys were administered to students in IT-BME-affiliated courses as well as those taking other BME-related courses. Phases I & II: graduate students responded positively to the opportunity to engage in this inclusive teaching experiential learning opportunity. Phase III: survey results indicated that the incorporation of inclusive teaching practices in BME courses enhanced the student learning experience. The IT-BME project supported graduate students and faculty in learning about, creating, and implementing inclusive teaching practices in a collaborative and supportive environment. This project will serve to both train the next class of instructors and use their study of inclusive teaching concepts to facilitate the creation of ideas and materials that will benefit the BME curriculum and students. 

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3. A Qualitative Examination of Learners’ Experiences in Experiential BME-In-Practice Modules

   Vempala, Vibhavari; Huang-Saad, Aileen (July 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition proceedings)

   Learners of Biomedical Engineering (BME) programs report difficulties finding relevant jobs post-graduation and also express a disconnect between their training and future professional roles. In addition, because of the interdisciplinary nature of BME, there is a lack of shared understanding of the field between learners, departments, and employers. This lack of understanding further contributes to the disconnect between instruction and practice. To bridge the gap between curricular experiences and learners' understanding of career opportunities in BME, we developed a series of 1-credit (4-week) BME-In-Practice Modules that exposed biomedical learners to biomedical engineering practice. Each 1-credit module in the series was designed to run for four weeks and focused on different areas in BME such as Tissue engineering, Computational Modeling, Medical Device Development, Drug Development, Regulations, and Neural Engineering. Learners' enrolled in one or multiple modules and engaged in experiential learning for 4-weeks to gain knowledge and skills relevant to the BME area of focus in the module(s). Following the conclusion of the BME-In-Practice series, we collected survey data from learners who participated in the modules to address the following research questions: 1) What are learners' goals and motivations for enrolling in the BME-In-Practice Module(s)? and 2) How did learners' experiences with the module(s) align with their goals and influence their graduation plans? The survey was administered using Qualtrics and consisted of multiple open-ended questions examining learners' goals and motivations for participating in the BME-in-Practice Module(s) and questions assessing their experiences with the series. Responses to the open-ended survey questions were analyzed using a qualitative interpretive approach. Our results identify different goals related to learners' professional interests and competencies when enrolling in the module. Learners' reported gaining practical experiences as well as clarity and direction about their professional futures. We also discuss the graduation plans and outcomes reported by the learners' who participated in the modules, followed by implications for practice and future research. 

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4. Evolution of an Integrated, Elementary CSforAll Curriculum

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3626253.3635495  

   Adrion, W Richards; Pektaş, Emrah (March 2024, ACM)

   A research-practice partnership (RPP) used a teacher co-design process, supported by equity-focused professional development, to create an elementary-level curriculum that integrates content, practices, and learning progressions from state computing standards with other standards-based curricula. Most district students are part of historically marginalized groups and the RPP chose to develop an equity and inclusion-focused curriculum that would be taught in all elementary classrooms to all students. Twelve teacher teams, supported by researchers and ELL and SPED specialists, designed, piloted, and documented 23 modules of 4-8, 45-minute lessons across K-5. Early adopter teachers followed the pilots and implemented the modules in their classrooms with the goal of facilitating adoption by all elementary classroom teachers. After being interrupted by the pandemic, the RPP developed a strategy where principals in cohorts of schools agreed to collaborate with RPP school-based lead teachers to establish professional learning communities (PLCs) to support classroom implementation of the modules. Eleven schools participated in a 2021-22 cohort and nine more schools joined in 2022-23. Centering equity, PLCs, and quality module documentation and materials are key to sustaining and evolving the CSforAll curriculum. The modules were revised based on feedback obtained from ELL and SPED specialists, early adopters, teacher coordinators, researchers, and district curriculum directors. Using a large data set of meeting and classroom observation records, interviews, field notes, focus groups, surveys, and module documentation, we track the evolution of the curriculum and provide a detailed analysis of one module as an example. 

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5. WIP: Approaches to pairing proactive advising and teaching students how to learn

   Trahan, Lisa; Baldis, Jessica; Sadler, Jasmine; Lipomi, D. J. (June 2023, American Society of Engineering Education)

   The mission of the Inclusion Diversity Excellence Achievement (IDEA) Engineering Student Center at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering is to promote equity, community, and success for all engineering students at the University from admission through graduation. The Academic Achievement Program (AAP) originally focused on academic performance (i.e., grades) and is evolving to more fully address the myriad of factors that contribute to the overall success of undergraduate engineering students. The AAP aims to promote a culture of care for students’ personal well-being and academic success within engineering courses by providing just-in-time support and reinforcing attitudes and habits that empower students to succeed. This effort can be broken down into three goals: I) promote a multifaceted understanding of factors that influence student success, II) teach learning attitudes and behaviors for effective learning, and III) provide tools to support proactive advising at the classroom level. To reach these goals, we envision instructional teams (typically made up of faculty and teaching assistants) who have the knowledge and tools to proactively provide students with support based on deep understanding of how factors inside and outside the classroom influence learning. Such instructional teams can more effectively improve the learning experience and student outcomes like persistence. We also envision students with attitudes and habits that help them learn effectively and use supporting resources to overcome any challenges they encounter. To achieve these goals, AAP includes three components at various stages of development, implementation, and assessment: 1) the Engineer Your Success Course for undergraduates, 2) Student Support Planning Checklist and community of practice for instructional teams, and 3) content on effective learning strategies for instructional teams. This paper will present a developing conceptual framework that guides these activities, describe each component, present preliminary findings, and discuss potential next steps. 

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