Poster Q17 - Undergraduate Design Courses as Preparation for Capstone Design

Introduction:

Introduction: Capstone design courses are a cornerstone of bioengineering (BIOE) undergraduate education, as they provide an opportunity for students to apply fundamental knowledge from courses to projects that are relevant to industry or research careers. In comparison to traditional coursework that composes much of the first three years of undergraduate studies, design courses are less structured and open-ended, and their integration into BIOE curricula is becoming increasingly common [1]. Senior capstone is a necessary course for all engineering undergraduates as ABET requires “a culminating major engineering design experience that 1) incorporates appropriate engineering standards and multiple constraints, and 2) is based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work.” [2] Recently, our institutions have moved to a single-semester capstone course. Single semester capstone experiences are not as common as two semester sequences. [3] Reports suggest that a single semester project more fully mimics an industrial setting and can better prepare students for the workplace [4]. However, students often have difficulty completing satisfactory projects in senior capstone [5,6] this problem can be exacerbated in a single semester project. Issues with developing prototyping skills, project scope and the timeliness of receiving needed materials makes a single semester project difficult to accomplish [6]. We are evaluating the design activities available at two institutions that prepare students to engage in their culminating senior capstone projects.

Materials and

Methods:

Methods: We asked how bioengineering departments can best prepare undergraduates for design and technical prototyping in a one semester timeframe. Here we compare the undergraduate bioengineering curriculum at two institutions that have recently moved to require a single-semester capstone design course. The course sequence at each institution is intended to engage students in design and project-based work throughout undergraduate curricula, but each takes a slightly different approach. In this presentation, we compare courses (required and elective), theoretical topics covered, hands-on skill training, and outcomes from the sequence at each institution. These findings may inform ways that design can be incorporated into the BIOE curriculum in an effort to support training and preparation of students to address open-ended problems.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Results and

Discussion:
Temple University: There are several design-related courses and labs that are required in preparation for senior capstone. The students are initially enrolled in our first year ENGR 1011 and BIOE 2101 courses. These courses introduce students to the design thinking process with on paper projects that use the initial steps of this process. With the move to a single semester capstone course, a newly required senior course: BIOE 3402 was added, where students run though the entire design thinking process. They build a mechanical testing device in a scaffolded manner that mimics the work they will be doing during senior capstone. The Biodesign class is the pre-requisite of our ENGR 4296: Senior Design II, which is the typical open-ended project class.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC): There are several project-based courses required in preparation for senior capstone. First year students are initially enrolled in our Introduction to Bioengineering sequence. These courses introduce students to team-based projects related to technical specialties within bioengineering. There are multiple required laboratory courses and electives offered in the BIOE department that emphasize team-based projects and utilize design thinking principles including needs statement creation and iterative prototyping processes. Within the single semester capstone course, BIOE students have access to workshops to hone project-specific prototyping skills in real time as needed.

We observed through anonymous feedback that students appreciate the addition of design courses to the curriculum and the open-ended nature of the final projects. One student commented, “I really enjoyed the hands-on projects and labs. I think the BIOE curriculum could benefit from more design and hands-on courses [to] help students develop skills even further.”

Conclusions: Throughout the curricula at both institutions, we find the programs provide a scaffolded design education leading up to capstone design. In the future, we aim to understand how bioengineering curricula, specifically project-based, design courses, play a role in creating supports or barriers to technical career attainment for students. While studied within the context of institutions with single semester capstone, the findings produced by this work can support any department in developing career relevant skills for undergraduate students.

Acknowledgements (Optional): [1] Linsenmeier, R. A., and Saterbak, A., 2020, “Fifty Years of Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Education,” Ann. Biomed. Eng., 48(6), pp. 1590–1615.
[2] “Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, 2023 – 2024 | ABET.”
[3] Ford, L. P., Cole, J., Dahm, K. D., Vaughen, B. K., Jamieson, M. V., Landherr, L., David L. Silverstein, Vogel, T. J., West, C. W., and Thiel, S. W., 2023, “How We Teach: Capstone Design.”
[4] Qatu, Mohamad, and Jones, E. William, 2010, “A Curricular Model for a One Semester Capstone Course in Engineering,” ASEE Southeast Sect. Conf.
[5] Bannerot, R., Kastor, R., and Ruchhoeft, P., 2022, “One Semester Capstone Design Courses: Issues, Problems and Solutions.”
[6] Schmaltz, K., 2013, “Delivering the Senior Capstone Project: Comparing Year-Long, Single Semester and Hybrid Approaches,” p. 23.369.1-23.369.15.