Research Initiation: Computational thinking in Biological Engineering

医学和生物学的数据量正在以惊人的速度增长，需要新的技术和方法来整合和有效地利用这些数据。生物工程需要培养训练有素的毕业生，以满足未来对该领域专家的需求。为了满足这一日益增长的需求，本研究计划：1)通过改变我们教授数据分析和数学建模的方式来改善本科生物工程教育，2)绘制学生对计算概念理解随时间的增长，以及3)将确定导致女性和其他未被充分代表的少数群体在这些类型的数据和以计算机为中心的问题中参与度较低的因素。该计划旨在确定最好的方法来教所有有抱负的生物工程师在计算任务方面表现出色，比如如何构建将数据连接在一起的图表，或者如何使用计算机根据数据做出有意义的预测。项目组将利用现有的课程结构，启动一项工程教育研究项目，调查工程师的专业形成。具体来说，我们有三个目标：(1)描述生物医学工程本科学生在3门课程中从新手到专家的计算思维进展；(2)研究性别、工程身份和计算思维之间的交集；(3)不断改进本科课程，促进所有生物工程师计算思维的发展。跨学科的研究团队汇集了计算建模方面的专业知识，以及深入的方法论和教学方法。为了确保持久的影响，这项工作还将培训普渡大学工程教育奖学金的教师。此外，PI将作为工程教育界和计算工具构建生命科学研究界之间的桥梁，促进互利的思想交流。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.