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Biomedical Engineering Education

Biomedical Engineering Education - Poster Session E

Poster Q14 - Fostering Inclusive Lab and Design Courses

Saturday, October 26, 2024
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST
Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Introduction:  In higher education, there has been an increased emphasis on creating inclusive classroom experiences for students. However, these efforts have largely been focused on traditional lecture-based courses. While some of the evidence-based practices of these initiatives apply to lab and design-based courses, there are several unique situations in these courses that would benefit from a different approach. For example, lab-based courses generally have longer in-class periods that require extended focus; use unique tools, equipment and software; and are required to complete activities that are very different from traditional homework. In design or project-based classes, much of the project work happens in unstructured time outside of the classroom where team dynamics cannot be observed by instructional staff. Broadly experiential learning (labs and projects) is an essential part of STEM education, therefore, if we aim to have a diverse group of students succeed in STEM, then we also need for them to be included and active participants in all aspects of their education.

A climate survey was created and distributed to better understand undergraduate students’ experiences in their lab and design courses. This survey addresses topics such as confidence, belonging, available support, and exciting and concerning aspects of these courses. The goal of this survey was to identify gaps in inclusion so that future work can identify and test potential solutions.

Materials and

Methods:  This survey was created in Qualtrics based on the prior questionnaire developed by Batty et al [3]. Questions were modified as appropriate, especially pertaining to the adaption of the questionnaire for assessment of American rather than British higher education. Questions were reviewed by a small group of faculty and students for clarity and alignment with research goals.

It was distributed across a large public university in the Midwestern United States through word of mouth, student groups, flyers, and course announcements by faculty. All students who have taken at least one laboratory or design course at the collegiate level were encouraged to complete the survey.

Survey analysis was completed using those who had responded to the majority of Likert and ranking questions for each section. All open-ended responses were considered, regardless of completion. The small group of respondents who completed the demographic portion of the survey were also analyzed to find response trends across identities.

[3] Batty, L., & Reilly, K. (2022). Understanding barriers to participation within undergraduate STEM laboratories: towards development of an inclusive curriculum. Journal of Biological Education, 57(5), 1147–1169. https://doi-org.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/10.1080/00219266.2021.2012227

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: A total of 66 participants provided responses to at least some of the survey questions, with 35 participants completing the survey. A representation of the data, shown in the figure, compares responses regarding disability status to Likert questions assessing confidence and belonging. Students with disabilities feel less comfortable, less confident, and less like they belong in a laboratory or design space in their major than their peers without disabilities.

Open-ended responses addressing concerns in the laboratory included statements such as, ‘instruction for equipment was very brief – seemed like an afterthought’, ‘I don’t want to make a mistake and risk anyone’s health.’ Suggestions for improvements students would like to see implemented in lab included ‘adaptive/one-handed equipment’ (for a student also reporting a mobility disability). Overwhelmingly, students responded that they would like more explanations regarding how to complete experiments when asked what additional support they would like from course staff.

These responses suggest that our laboratory and design courses would benefit from additional course staff training and that students would benefit from having more opportunities to interact with course staff during these courses. Additionally, students need more instruction and clarity on how to perform experiments and use equipment that may be new to them. The inclusion of equipment in laboratories that accommodates a range of abilities, or assistance learning how adapt laboratory procedures for a student’s specific abilities, may alleviate concerns that students with disabilities have regarding completion of lab work and confidence in lab.

Acknowledgements (Optional):  This project was funded by the Grainger IDEA Institute grant #GIANT2023-03. The authors would like to thank Connor Niznik, Katie Ansell, David Mussulman, Chris Schmitz, Jessica TerBush, Holly Golecki, Caroline Cvetkovic, and Chandra Radhakrishnan for their contributions to this project.