2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Biologically Inspired Design in Introductory High School Engineering Design Courses: Student Expectations, Fixation and the Importance of Prior (Fundamental Research)

Presented at Flaming Moe's Influence: Bio-Inspired STEM Explorations, Hot Stuff!

This study explores students' engagement in and perception of biologically inspired design (BID) as a result of their participation in a seven-week BID engineering curriculum. The participants included high school students (n=52) enrolled in an engineering course. Students were purposively selected for this mixed methods study due to their willingness to participate. The qualitative findings revealed that students’ engagement in BID ideation resulted in a fixation on initial solution ideas, exploring a few potential solutions to create design concepts, and tending toward existing, well-understood solutions. In comparison, the quantitative findings showed modest shifts in students' views regarding the value of BID from pre- to post. The survey data revealed that slightly more students agreed after the course that using concepts from biology is useful for developing engineering solutions. In contrast, students who believed biology was a good source for engineering ideas showed a larger increase. While many students initially agreed that biological inspiration was easy and exciting, fewer believed so after their engagement in the curriculum.

Authors

Dr. Abeera P. Rehmat http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4977-5830 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Abeera P. Rehmat is a Research Scientist II, at Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Education Integrating
Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). She has experience conducting research in engineering education that
spans pre-college up to the collegiate level. Her research interest involves investigating how engineering and computer
science education can foster students critical thinking and problem-solving skills to prepare them for the challenges of this
evolving world.
Dr. Michael Helms Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Michael Helms is a Senior Research Scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where his research focused on improving design creativity.
Dr. Meltem Alemdar Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Meltem Alemdar is a Associate Director and Principal Research Scientist at Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), Dr. Alemdar made significant contributions to the fields of STEM education. Her research focuses on improving K-12 STEM education through research on curriculum development, teacher professional development, and student learning in integrated STEM environments. Dr. Alemdar currently serves as PI and co-PI for research on various NSF funded projects that focuses on engineering education, teacher networks and STEM learning environments. Her expertise includes program evaluation, social network analysis, mixed methods, and advanced quantitative methods. Dr. Alemdar is passionate advocate for equitable and inclusive STEM education. She actively engages with educators, students, and communities to promote the importance of STEM disciplines and education research in preparing the next generation for the challenges of the future. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy, with a concentration in Research, Measurement, and Statistics, from Georgia State University.
Mr. Jeffrey H Rosen Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

After 14 years in the middle and high school math and engineering classroom where Mr. Rosen was working on the integration of engineering and robotics into the teaching of the core curricula classrooms. He has now been at Georgia Tech's CEISMC for the pas

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