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Chemical engineers frequently contribute to the advancement of the medical field; however, such applications are often not covered in the undergraduate curriculum until third- or fourth-year electives. We propose implementing a hands-on learning tool in an elective third- and fourth-year course and core third-year separations class to help undergraduate students apply chemical engineering concepts to biomedical applications. The hands-on learning tool of interest is used to introduce students to blood separation principles through a microbead settling device. See-through columns are filled with fluid and microbeads at various ratios to model the effect of hematocrit, or red blood cell fraction, on cell settling velocities and separation efficiencies. We hypothesize that the use of a biomedical hands-on learning tool will result in motivational and conceptual gains in comparison to traditional lecture and have significant effects on underrepresented minority groups in the class. Pre- and posttests will be used to assess conceptual understanding of separations principles with respect to biomedical applications across hands-on and lecture groups. Additionally, motivational surveys will be used to gauge levels of interactivity between the two groups, relating to the ICAP hypothesis. We plan to conclude the paper submission and presentation with theoretical and practical implications of our findings from Spring 2022 implementations.
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Work-in-Progress: Hands-On Learning Devices for Exposure to Biomedical Applications Within Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering students learn valuable fundamentals that can be used to enhance the medical field, yet the lack of emphasis on such applications can misguide undergraduate students as they choose their major. To address this misconception, we propose the use of a hands-on, interactive learning tool to expose freshman-level chemical engineering undergraduate students to applications that go beyond the traditional oil refining and catalysis emphases typically discussed in the introductory “Applications in Chemical Engineering” course. We developed a low-cost, modified fidget spinner that introduces students to blood separation principles. On each arm of the spinner, there exists a see-through chamber filled with fluid and microbeads at various ratios, which simulates the effect of hematocrit, or red blood cell fraction, on settling velocities and terminal position—phenomena that are utilized to enhance blood separation efficiencies. Due to COVID-19, we plan to implement this device by mailing fidget spinner kits with a complementary worksheet to the students to conduct observational experiments at home in the spring 2021 semester. We hypothesize that introducing biomedical applications early in the undergraduate experience will help students understand that chemical engineering knowledge can easily be transferred to biological systems and will have a significant impact on motivation and retention of women in the cohort. Motivational surveys will be used to assess pre- and post-implementation attitudes toward chemical engineering as a major and will be compared to control data collected in fall 2020. In the paper and presentation, we will also share the mathematical modeling behind creating the microbead blood simulant. We plan to conclude the paper and presentation with theoretical and practical implications of our findings.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1821578
- PAR ID:
- 10297447
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Society for Engineering Education
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--35642
