2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Using Narrative Inquiry to Assess Research Outcomes of Biomedical Engineering Entrepreneurial REU Undergraduate Students

Today's research in the biomedical engineering field focuses heavily on translational science, which works toward the ultimate goal of transforming research into tangible benefits to human health, including medicine, medical devices, and clinical practices. As translational research grows, programs are emerging that encourage undergraduate students to develop the skills and attributes required to assist with the transfer of basic research to bedside, including opportunity recognition, customer discovery, teamwork, and persistence through failure. These skills are also inherent in individuals that have an entrepreneurial mindset, which focuses upon generating solutions that create value for individuals, the community, and society.

In Summer 2023, the first iteration of a summer research experience for undergraduates (REU) program focused on entrepreneurial mindset development (eREU) was piloted at three institutions with two to three eREU students per program. Each eREU student was paired with a university-affiliated company working on translational research for 10 weeks, with the goal of furthering development of entrepreneurial and translational research skills described above. To understand the impact of these entrepreneurial experiences, we implemented narrative inquiry, a qualitative methodology in which participants tell their personal stories from their perspective. Narrative inquiry is a method that is underused in engineering education research, but that is often used in other social sciences, and is a well-researched way to capture lived experiences.

Through narrative inquiry assessment and analysis of 17 participants' narratives, including 8 eREU and 9 traditional REU students, we found multiple themes that point to all students in our sample developing promising translational research skills and attitudes. Students discussed many life experiences that contributed to their development, but many students specifically highlighted their experience within the eREU and REU program as a strong contributing factor. These students developed the ability to recognize and take advantage of opportunities, overcome challenges, have grown to understand themselves and others in new ways, and sought connections between their research experience and their real lives. These themes are indicative of students’ entrepreneurial mindset and how a translational research environment can aid in this development.

Authors

Ms. Alexandra Mary Jackson http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4662-6653 Rowan University [biography]

Alexandra Jackson is a fourth year PhD student at Rowan University seeking a specialization in Engineering Education. She began her research in Rowan's Experiential Engineering Education Department in the Fall of 2019, and has developed interests in entrepreneurial mindset and student development. In particular, she is interested in assessment of entrepreneurial mindset through both quantitative and qualitative methods, including self-report, concept map assessment, and narrative inquiry She was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in April, 2022 for her efforts.
Cayla Ritz Rowan University [biography]

Cayla Ritz, is pursuing a Ph.D in Engineering Education in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University. Her research focuses on how story-driven games can be used to help engineering students understand how they may make decisions in professional engineering roles. She is particularly interested in how engineers make decisions in public welfare, community/environmental safety, and social contexts.
Dr. Cheryl A Bodnar Rowan University [biography]

Dr. Bodnar is an Associate Professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University. Her research interests relate to the incorporation of active learning techniques such as game-based learning in undergraduate classes as well as innovation and entrepreneurship.
Cassandra Sue Ellen Jamison http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0253-1636 Rowan University [biography]

Cassandra (Cassie) Jamison is an Assistant Professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ). Her research interests focus on understanding and improving the learning that occurs in experiential, out-of-class activities for engineering students. Cassie previously received a B.A. in Engineering Sciences at Wartburg College (Waverly, IA) and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in BME from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI).
Dr. Kaitlin Mallouk http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4367-1165 Rowan University [biography]

Kaitlin Mallouk is an Associate Professor of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University. Prior to beginning that role, she spent five years an Instructor in the Mechanical Engineering and Experiential Engineering Education Departments at Rowan.
Dr. Mary Staehle Rowan University [biography]

Dr. Mary Staehle is Department Head and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Rowan University. Before joining the faculty at Rowan, Dr. Staehle worked at the Daniel Baugh Institute for Functional Genomics and Computational Biology at Thomas Jefferson University. She was trained in biomedical and chemical engineering at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Delaware.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025