Bioengineering Domain Thrust
In the first three years of the VaNTH ERC, about 30 bioengineering faculty
members at outstanding research universities have rearranged their
priorities in order to devote significant fractions of their time to a type
of research that was completely new to them. These faculty members have
formed collaborative teams across the VaNTH universities in the
bioengineering domains – where no collaborations had existed previously.
Previously, almost none of the work of this group had been in educational
research, although all of them were committed teachers and research
investigators. Their work has involved a major paradigm shift consisting of
several elements. The domain experts have 1) learned the languages of
assessment and learning science, 2) worked in teams with faculty and
students from learning science, learning technology and assessment, and 3)
taken substantial risks to introduce novel techniques and sometimes
relatively invasive assessment instruments into their courses. The
commitment of this group has been so great that by early in year 3,
thirty-two domain projects were in progress. Significantly, the influence
of VaNTH has allowed education to become a focus of the Biomedical
Engineering Society Annual Meeting. At the 1998 BMES Annual Meeting (preVaNTH),
there were a total of three presentations on education. At the 2001
meeting, there were 32 presentations, 16 of them by VaNTH personnel, and the
meeting rooms were overflowing. At the EMBS-BMES Meeting in 2002, Dr.
Harris is the Theme Leader for education. He has organized 6 sessions with
39 submitted papers (nine proceedings have been submitted by our Domain
team). The influence of VaNTH at the American Society for Engineering
Education and the American Educational Research Association meetings has
been similar.
Our goals are as follows:
(a) Perform a taxonomic analysis of the
facts, theories, methods, skills, and integrative reasoning which currently
constitute and which should constitute education in bioengineering.
(b) Provide a taxonomy that is on-line,
accessible, and easy to upgrade. This taxonomy will show relationships
among bioengineering domains, biology, and other fields of engineering, and
it will include a set of links to recommended teaching resources outside
VaNTH material.
(c) Produce and disseminate modular
teaching materials that serve to motivate students, stimulate active
learning, and create adaptive learners.
(d) Prepare bioengineering students with
knowledge, attitudes and skills for lifetime learning mediated through
technology and other means.
(e) Chart
paths through the taxonomy and educational materials that can be recommended
as constituting undergraduate and graduate curricula and courses in
bioengineering. |
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