2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A major goal of biomedical engineering is the development of novel and innovative medical technology that advances and improves healthcare outcomes. An important component of medical device design is the ability to identify the clinical needs of patients and healthcare providers and to apply engineering solutions to meet these needs. Our biomedical engineering department has developed a clinical and industry immersion course, which exposes students to the environment in which physicians and patients practice and engages students in this needs identification process. Through these experiences, students have the opportunity to interact with physicians, healthcare providers, and current biomedical engineers. To further refine students’ understanding of a user-centered approach to needs finding, we have incorporated a Human-Centered Design module at the beginning of this clinical immersion course. To examine the efficacy of this approach, this study aimed to determine the impact of this Human Centered Design module on students' perspectives regarding user feedback and the design process during product development. The first round of data was collected through an online Qualtrics survey sent out to the students enrolled in the Clinical Observations course. This survey collected feedback that quantified students' confidence levels throughout different parts of the engineering design process, and their understanding of the Human Centered Design module presented in class. Both quantitative (Five-point Likert-scale) and qualitative (open-response) data were analyzed. Additionally, an assignment was administered to assess students’ understanding of human-centered design concepts. Both self-reported and external assessments provided insights on how this module changed students' understanding of different aspects of the clinical design research process. Students reported moderately high levels of agreement with statements regarding the modules impact on their understanding of user needs (Mean, M=3.62), and that this helped them develop empathy for users and their unique perspectives (M=3.68). Students also agreed that this module was a valuable addition to the course (M=3.79), and felt that it provided them with practical tools and techniques for conducting user research and gathering insights (M=3.66). Students also reported that this module inspired them to incorporate human centered design in their future biomedical engineering work (M=3.79). This study is currently in-progress, with plans to increase sample size and conduct thorough data analysis in future work. Data collected after students participate in the clinical experiences will provide more insights into the ability of students to apply this concept as they begin drafting ideas for their course design project and the impact it has on the design process.