2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Modern-day engineering classes have found it challenging to keep students engaged the whole time, which has become a focal point since the pandemic. The necessary changes in pedagogical methods during the pandemic have burdened the students. Online classes, not having the college experience, and reduction of one-to-one interaction with faculty, are aspects of an engineering class that could impact the outcomes of a course as well as the department. Given the hands-on experience as a student, particularly in the field of Biomedical Engineering, that is essential for developing their skill to make them ready for their career, the last few years have warranted instructors to innovate pedagogy.
In the past couple of years, at our university, we began employing active learning methods in the Biomedical Engineering classes to tackle the challenges that we faced during the pandemic. As part of these changes, we included a component of education research to study the effectiveness of active learning in the classroom. Our team had the opportunity to interact with students one-on-one, which opened our eyes to a very important issue the students were feeling. The changes we made during the pandemic, and since, impacted students in a way that some of them pointed out feeling like being subjects of experimentation. That made us introspect our processes and made us realize we need to first understand the audience, in this case, our students, before we can assess how they are learning.
This study aims to contribute to the existing literature by employing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a framework to explore the needs and experiences of Senior Biomedical Engineering students (graduating in 2024 and 2025). The study was administered to the students enrolled in two separate senior-level courses in the BME department, one in Fall and one in Spring. The study aimed to study in parallel the same research question (1) at the course level and (2) as a department at the end of four years of undergraduate enrollment. By examining the five categories of needs - physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization - we sought to understand whether our students' basic needs are being met if they feel safe and supported within the department if they have opportunities for growth and development, and if they feel empowered to pursue their goals.
Using a mixed-methods approach, we administered a quantitative survey to Senior BME students, asking them to score each category of need based on their experiences. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with a subset of participants to gather more in-depth insights into their perspectives and challenges.
The primary research questions we pursued during the study included
1. What is the level of satisfaction among Senior Biomedical Engineering students in terms of their safety, physiological, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization needs?
2. How did each course individually in the course sessions meet or fail to meet these needs, as perceived by the students?
3. How effective are departmental policies and practices in promoting a sense of community and inclusivity among students, as perceived by senior students?
4. Can targeted interventions aimed at improving student engagement and motivation (e.g., more group work, peer feedback) also improve feelings of safety and belonging among BME students?
5. Can understanding these needs inform departmental decisions about course design, faculty training, or student support services to improve overall student success?
This is a work in progress which we aim to continue till Spring 2025, but preliminary results so far from the survey and semi-structured interviews have indicated significant progress needs to be made in meeting specific needs such as physiological needs (breaks during long sessions, the ability for lecture schedules to allow for lunch, etc), esteem needs (better interaction with course faculty), and self-actualization needs (career related guidance and opportunities). As far as the safety and belonging needs are concerned the student responses indicate the department policies allow the students to express themselves, and that for the individual courses, the instructors play a significant role in addressing these needs.
The findings from this study have the potential to inform pedagogical changes, departmental policies, and student support services that prioritize student-centered learning and promote a more inclusive and supportive learning environment. The results can also be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at addressing specific needs or challenges identified by students.