This planning grant is to facilitate significant reform on a departmental wide basis by developing a biological engineering curriculum that effectively integrates the teaching and learning of engineering principles with biological sciences. The new curriculum will prepare students for careers in bioengineering-related areas by integrating the fundamentals of the biological sciences into the engineering curriculum and applying engineering principles to biological systems. Integration of teaching and research as well as continuous faculty development will be the basis of this departmental level reform. This planning grant will: 1) Develop a curriculum for an integrated biological engineering undergraduate degree program that wil serve as a national model for multidisciplinary efforts; 2) Investigate, identify, and integrate modern learning strategies and pedagogical environments with high-impact on student learning, recruitment, and retention; 3) ?Investigate, identify, and integrate high-impact department-wide student experiential learning opportunities, and 4) Engage departmental faculty in the science of learning and teaching biological engineering to prepare for successful implementation of the new curriculum.
Intellectual Merit This planning grant is focused on linking ongoing research developments in biological engineering to the teaching of undergraduates. This necessarily flexible and evolving curriculum will serve as a model for similarly evolving disciplines that bridge the divide between engineering and science. Through the collaborative efforts of faculty in the Department of Agricultural an Biological Engineering at Purdue University and associated stakeholders, they will develop a comprehensive, fully-integrated biological engineering curriculum through a series of working sessions that focus on: (1) integration of engineering and biological sciences, (2) strategies for including experiential learning opportunities, and (3) incorporation and implementation of modern teaching and learning methods.
Broader Impacts Research advances that enable quantification and modeling of biological phenomenon are leading to developments that impact and improve the human condition. Graduates with the abilities articulated by ABET Criterion 3 a-k, deep understandings of biochemistry/biology, and an ability to work across the traditional divide between engineering and science are needed to translate these research advances to practical use. An undergraduate degree program that can effectively recruit, retain, and prepare a diverse student population to work and grow in the evolving field of biological engineering will fill a national need to grow the technical workforce.
