Empowering biomedical engineering undergraduates to help teach design

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering Education
• Engineering Design Pedagogy

Background:

• Project-based learning is crucial for developing practical engineering skills.
• Traditional engineering courses often lack sufficient focus on the complete design process and its real-world challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an educational model where senior students mentor underclassmen in biomedical engineering design courses.
• To assess the effectiveness of a project-based curriculum in teaching the engineering design process.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a two-semester, project-based biomedical engineering design course sequence.
• Utilized a mentorship model with upperclassmen and seniors teaching freshmen and junior students.
• Required comprehensive documentation, presentations, and a mock design-build exercise.
• Established a web-based repository for project documentation.

Main Results:

• Students gained practical experience in the design process, including manufacturing and testing challenges.
• The program fostered valuable teamwork and mentoring skills among participants.
• A searchable design repository was created as a resource for future projects.

Conclusions:

• Empowering senior students as mentors in biomedical engineering design courses is effective.
• The project-based, experiential learning model successfully imparts design process knowledge and essential soft skills.
• This educational approach prepares students for future professional roles and graduate studies.