WIP: A novel problem-driven learning laboratory course in which biomedical engineering students conduct experiments of their own design to answer an authentic research question.

Often, in traditional laboratory courses, students carry out experiments for which the results are already known, following pre-written protocols that they are expected to perform with rote compliance, and evaluated on compliance and conformance. Students who are trained in this way, when confronted with a real-world challenge, will likely struggle, or even fail, to identify which techniques to use. This failure is because students have not been given the opportunity to practice what real research engineers do: design and conduct experiments to answer novel and authentic scientific questions whose answers are not already known - i.e., engage in a true inquiry based approach to science. To address this gap, we designed an undergraduate Quantitative Engineering Physiology laboratory course in which students develop and complete their own experimental protocols to answer novel biomedical problems they identify. Students are introduced to a significant authentic biomedical challenge, such as cancer, and then challenged to work in teams to propose a novel approach for interfering with the disease process. In this course, students conceptualize an authentic research question, design and carry out experiments to answer that question, and reflect on their learning experience. The course provides students with the opportunity to identify and solve an authentic research problem in a supportive cognitive apprenticeship environment [1, 2]. Each student leaves the course having learned a set of skills that is unique to their experience that is relevant for their self-designed project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]