Taylor Alyssa C, Hernandez Jamie L
Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA USA.
Biomed Eng Educ. 2022;2(2):141-150. doi: 10.1007/s43683-022-00081-4. Epub 2022 Jul 11.
As cornerstones of biomedical engineering and bioengineering undergraduate programs, hands-on laboratory experiences promote key skill development and student engagement. Lab courses often involve team-based activities and close communication with instructors, allowing students to build connection and community. Necessitated by the pandemic, changes to class delivery format presented unprecedented challenges to student inclusion and engagement, especially for students from underrepresented minority backgrounds. Here, we present a multi-faceted approach for fostering inclusion and community-building in a hybrid bioengineering laboratory course. A basis for this project was an approach for team-based project work which allowed students to have hands-on experience in the lab and collaborate extensively with peers, while abiding by social distancing guidelines. Members of each student team worked together remotely and synchronously on a project. One team member executed the hands-on portion of each lab activity and the remote student(s) engaged in the project via online communication. The hybrid lab course was supplemented with interventions to further promote inclusivity and community, including instructor modeling on inclusion, team-based course content, attention to lab session logistics, and instructor communication. Students responded positively, as indicated by the median ratings in course evaluations for the four lab sections in the following categories concerning course climate (using a 5.0 scale): their overall comfort with the climate of the course (4.8 to 5.0), feeling valued and respected by lab instructor (4.8 to 5.0) and their peers (4.8 to 5.0), peers helping each other succeed in the course (4.5 to 5.0), and the degree to which the experience in the course contributed to their sense of belonging in engineering (4.2 to 5.0). When asked to describe aspects of the class that contributed to inclusivity towards differences, students cited a collaborative environment, course content on implicit bias and inclusivity, and an approachable teaching team. Overall, our approach was effective in fostering a sense of community and inclusion. We anticipate many of these initiatives can transcend instructional format to positively impact future lab course offerings, irrespective of modality.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43683-022-00081-4.
作为生物医学工程和生物工程本科课程的基石，实践实验室经验有助于关键技能的培养和学生的参与度。实验课程通常包括基于团队的活动以及与教师的密切沟通，使学生能够建立联系并形成社区氛围。受疫情影响，课程授课形式的改变给学生的融入和参与带来了前所未有的挑战，尤其是对于来自少数族裔背景的学生。在此，我们提出一种多方面的方法，以促进混合式生物工程实验室课程中的包容性和社区建设。该项目的基础是一种基于团队的项目工作方法，让学生在实验室中获得实践经验，并在遵守社交距离准则的同时与同龄人广泛合作。每个学生团队的成员远程同步参与一个项目。一名团队成员执行每个实验活动的实践部分，远程的学生则通过在线交流参与项目。混合式实验课程还辅以各种干预措施，以进一步促进包容性和社区建设，包括教师在包容性方面的示范、基于团队的课程内容、对实验课程后勤的关注以及教师沟通。学生们给出了积极反馈，以下是四个实验部分在课程评估中的中位数评分，涉及课程氛围（采用5.0分制）：他们对课程氛围的总体舒适度（4.8至5.0）、感觉受到实验室教师（4.8至5.0）和同龄人（4.8至5.0）的重视和尊重、同龄人在课程中互相帮助取得成功（4.5至5.0），以及课程体验对他们在工程领域归属感的贡献程度（4.2至5.0）。当被要求描述课程中有助于包容差异的方面时，学生们提到了协作环境、关于隐性偏见和包容性的课程内容以及平易近人的教学团队。总体而言，我们的方法有效地培养了社区感和包容性。我们预计这些举措中的许多都可以超越教学形式，对未来的实验课程产生积极影响，无论采用何种模式。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s43683-022-00081-4获取的补充材料。
