2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Cultivating Feedback Literacy through Biomedical Engineering Capstone Design

Presented at Professional Development and Career Pathways

We redesigned a yearlong biomedical engineering (BME) senior design course to make feedback literacy (i.e., seeking, appraising, and acting on feedback) an explicit learning outcome. The course adds role-based Student Advisory Boards (technical, clinical, regulatory, IP, business) with required "response-to-advice" replies and structured stakeholder interviewing.

This study analyzes two artifact sets from semester one: (a) end-of-term "memos to future students" (n=43) and (b) brief survey of usefulness ratings for advisory boards and stakeholder interviews. Using a feedback literacy capabilities lens (appreciation of purposes/sources, evaluative judgment, elicitation, enactment, affect management),
we coded evidence of feedback literacy within the memos and cross-tabbed capacities by feedback source.

In memos, prevalence was: appreciation 27/43 (62.8%), judgment 15/43 (34.9%), elicitation 8/43 (18.6%), enactment 5/43 (11.6%), affect 1/43 (2.3%); among writers showing any capacity (n=38), mean capacities per student = 1.47 (SD=0.92). External stakeholders dominated narratives of consequential movement (scoping, pivots, constraints). In the survey, stakeholder interviews were widely rated useful; advisory boards clustered from “a little useful” to “useful.”

Ultimately, this work contributes (1) a scalable model (role-based advisory boards, response-to-advice, stakeholder interviewing) for cultivating feedback literacy in BME capstones; and (2) an artifact-based approach instructors can use to monitor how students understand, seek, judge, and use feedback. Future work will link memo
themes to team artifacts and compare patterns across engineering disciplines.

Authors

Prof. Alexandra Werth http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0310-2654 Cornell University [biography]

Alexandra Werth is an assistant professor at the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, specializing in Engineering Education Research (EER). She focuses on developing evidence-based teaching methodologies to foster authentic learning environments. Dr. Werth holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Princeton University, where she developed a non-invasive mid-infrared glucose sensor. She later conducted postdoctoral research in physics education at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she helped develop the first large-enrollment introductory physics course-based research experience (CURE).
Gabriella Grandville Cornell University [biography]

Gabriella Grandville is pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Cornell with the intent to research career pathways in BME. She holds a B.S. degree in Interdisciplinary Engineering from Florida International University. Her research interests include community-centered design, system thinking, agency, BME curriculum, and BME career readiness.
David Xiang Cornell University
Nate J Cira Cornell University

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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