2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Many undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) programs integrate a team-based, design project as a capstone experience. Delivering needed design content throughout an undergraduate BME curriculum can be challenging, particularly in large engineering programs with multiple design instructors. Thus, cohesive instructional teams are needed to seamlessly deliver meaningful design experiences to undergraduate biomedical engineering students. Our work in progress shares how we have implemented best practices to assemble a BME Design Teaching Circle that includes faculty, staff, and teaching assistants in an informal way to discuss best practices in delivering design content and skills.

Currently, our BME Design Teaching Circle includes ten participants comprised of faculty, staff and teaching assistants responsible for overseeing and teaching the BME design curriculum across two locations. The BME Design Teaching Circle is co-led by two facilitators, one at each location, and meets monthly (four times per semester) to discuss BME design topics such as engineering design in undergraduate labs, preparing students for capstone, best practices in capstone project recruitment, navigating intellectual property in design, design symposia and competitions, and design sprints. Our initial efforts to date have provided an opportunity for BME design instructors to engage with like-minded colleagues in a low-stakes environment to discuss BME design topics. By leading these discussions with student centered teaching practices in mind, we have already identified several areas to improve including the need for streamlined design vocabulary resources, uniform standards expectations and accessibility, and additional observation and interview training prior to capstone.

In summary, our need to deliver excellent design experiences to large classes spanning two physical locations has instigated a BME Design Teaching Circle that continues to discuss how to deliver high-quality experiences in a demanding BME curriculum. Our BME Design Teaching Circle creates a low-stakes environment to quickly help identify action items that may inform pedagogical changes to current design instruction and suggestions for decision-making committees to consider that could increase departmental awareness of the BME capstone process and experience. This work in progress identifies (1) how we implemented best practices in assembling a BME Design Teaching Circle to build community amongst all levels of design instructors and (2) how topics and actions identified may inform decision-making committees and pedagogical changes to current design instruction.