Research Initiation: Computational thinking in Biological Engineering

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The amount of data available to inform medicine and biology is growing at an incredible rate and new technologies and methods are needed to integrate and effectively utilize the data. Bioengineering needs to produce well-trained graduates to meet future demand for experts in the field. To meet this growing need, this research program: 1) improves undergraduate Bioengineering education by changing how we teach data analysis and mathematical modeling, 2) maps the growth of students' understanding of computational concepts over time, and 3) will identify factors that lead to lower participation among women and other underrepresented minorities in these types of data and computer-focused problems. The program is designed to identify the best way to teach all aspiring bioengineers to excel at computational tasks such as how to build diagrams that connect data together or how to use a computer to make meaningful predictions based on data.The project team will use an existing curricular structure to initiate an engineering education research project that investigates the professional formation of engineers. Specifically, we have three objectives: (1) to characterize the progression of computational thinking in undergraduate biomedical engineering students from novice to expert over 3 courses; (2) to examine the intersection between gender, engineering identity, and computational thinking; and (3) to iteratively improve the undergraduate curricula to promote growth in computational thinking for all Bioengineers. The interdisciplinary research team brings together expertise in computational modeling, and deep methodological and pedagogical methods. To ensure long-lasting impact, this work will also train faculty in the scholarship of Engineering Education at Purdue. Additionally, the PI will act as a connector between the engineering education community and the computational tool-building life sciences research community to promote mutually beneficial exchange of ideas.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.