Development of an Accelerated Dual BS/MS Program in Bioengineering

因应在较传统课程所能提供的时间较短的时间内提供高等工程教育的需要，私营机构建议设立一条加速教育的轨道，以吸引最聪明的学生投身生物工程。他们建议让他们在早期阶段参与一个研究项目，并为他们提供一个围绕队列环境建立的四年强化教育计划。完成项目后，学生将获得生物工程学士和硕士学位。该项目的一个关键要素是让学生在职业生涯的早期(即相当于他们的大二年级开始)开始个人硕士论文项目的工作。这个项目提供了一个框架，在此基础上激发学生的课堂活动(即时学习的概念)，并指导他们选择选修课。为了使学生具备从事硕士水平项目所需的技能，研讨会/讨论课程序列将涉及工程、临床、工业和科学投入，以帮助学生选择、设计和实施硕士研究项目。研讨会课程的一部分还专门用来口头和书面陈述每个学生的研究进展。这一加速计划的另一个基本特点是课程的综合性和集中性。

In response to the need for providing advanced engineering education in a shorter time period than is generally possible by traditional curricula, the PIs propose to create an accelerated educational track to attract the brightest students into bioengineering. They propose to get them involved in a research project at an early stage, and provide them with an intensive four-year educational program built around a cohort environment. Upon completion of the program, the students will receive dual BS and MS degrees in bioengineering.A key element of this program is to have students begin work on an individual Masters thesis project early in their careers (i.e., starting in the equivalent of their sophomore year). This project provides a framework upon which to motivate the students in their classroom activities (a concept of just-in-time learning) and to guide them in their selection of elective courses. To equip the students with the skills needed to pursue a Masters-level project, the seminar/discussion course sequence will involve engineering, clinical, industrial and scientific input to aid the student in the selection, design and conduct of a Masters research project. A portion of the seminar course is also devoted to oral and written presentations of each student's research progress. Another essential feature of this accelerated plan is the integrated and concentrated nature of the coursework.