X-DBER 2021 Conference

Despite evidence that student-centered pedagogy benefits engineering students, studies show that instructors are slow to incorporate these practices into their teaching. The biomedical engineering (BME) instructional incubator (I2) is a two-semester course sequence that engages students, faculty, and postdocs in a course that demonstrates effective instruction and asks teams of student-instructors to develop a 1-credit module for early career BME students. Student-instructors then have the opportunity to teach the module with guidance from an engineering education faculty member the following semester. The I2 employs principles of situated learning to develop a community of practice that values responsive, student-centered instruction. Our study examined how I2 participants demonstrated responsive, student-centered instruction in their modules by analyzing reflective responses to a post-I2 experience survey. We coded responses for “implemented” and “proposed” changes to the modules and the corresponding “reasons for change.” After an inductive round of coding, themes emerged consistent with the curricular elements in Lattuca and Stark’s (2009) academic plan, which conceptualizes curriculum development as a process of shaping the educational environment based on institutional, departmental, and external influences. Our findings suggest that the I2 supports a community of educators developing and executing student-centered, responsive instructional practice. Implications for how this might transfer to other contexts are discussed.