Bethesda, MD

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Overview of VaNTH ERC Annual Meeting Thomas R.
Harris Vanderbilt University
Bethesda, MD December 1, 2006
This work was supported primarily by the
Engineering Research Centers Program of the
National Science Foundation under Award Number
EEC-9876363
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VaNTH Vision

• VaNTH is an ERC that will unite educators and
  engineers, in academia and industry, to define
  and develop bioengineering education for the
  future.
• VaNTH will transform bioengineering education by
  developing, implementing and assessing
  educational processes, materials and technologies
  that are aimed at producing adaptive experts .
• VaNTH seeks to affect the system of
  bioengineering education by becoming a working
  model of how engineering educators can approach
  development and testing of curricular materials.

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Goals

• To identify the facts, theories, methods, skills
  and integrative reasoning that should constitute
  the field of bioengineering
• To identify and/or develop the concepts from
  learning science that can have the greatest
  impact on producing an adaptive, effective and
  diverse work-force of bioengineers
• To identify, develop or discover learning
  technologies that can have high impact in the
  envisioned new system of bioengineering education
• To evaluate the effectiveness of new educational
  approaches and technologies in a variety of
  bioengineering settings and with a diverse group
  of learners
• To disseminate bioengineering educational
  materials to the entire bioengineering
  educational systemprecollege, undergraduate,
  graduate and postgraduate

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Deliverables
Systems
Enabling Technologies and Testbeds
Concepts Papers
Research
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Goal 1
To identify the facts, theories, methods, skills
and integrative reasoning that should constitute
the field of bioengineering
Benchmarks

• Create and make available taxonomies of knowledge
  in bioengineering domains

• Make core competencies and candidate curricula in
  BioE available

• Develop instructional materials based in the
  taxonomies

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Goal 2
To identify and/or develop the concepts from
learning science that can have the greatest
impact on producing an adaptive, effective and
diverse work-force of bioengineers
Benchmarks

• Identify key learning theories for improving
  bioengineering (HPL Framework, papers, white
  papers, proceedings, workshops)

• Develop approaches to educate bioengineers to
  become adaptive experts (papers, white papers,
  proceedings, workshops)

• Integrate appropriate LS theories into
  bioengineering instruction and evaluation of
  effectiveness (papers, white papers, proceedings,
  workshops, modules, courses)

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Benchmarks Goal 3
To identify, develop or discover learning
technologies that can have the high impact in the
envisioned new system of bioengineering education
Benchmarks

• Identify or create technologies that provide the
  following
• Formative assessments of student learning
• Aid in module design
• Assessment and evaluation of effectiveness of
  instruction
• Enrichment of module presentations
• Integration with other systems

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Benchmarks Goal 4
To evaluate the effectiveness of new educational
approaches and technologies in a variety of
bioengineering settings and with a diverse group
of learners
Benchmarks

• Identify test beds that have a diverse group of
  learners
• Devise an integrated set of evaluation methods
  that measure the effectiveness of instruction
• Apply these methods to individual modules and
  courses and to the project as a whole

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Meta-analysis of VaNTH Studies
Meaningful change
ES(Mean Experimental-Mean Control)/(Pooled
Standard Deviation)
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Goal 5
To disseminate bioengineering educational
materials to the entire bioengineering
educational systemprecollege, undergraduate,
graduate and postgraduate
Benchmarks

• Devise workshops for dissemination of successful
  methods to all levels

• Develop a web-based repository of curricula,
  modules and courses for review by teachers in
  bioengineering

• Through commercial partners, provide new
  materials to teachers and students

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VaNTH Education Program
Addressing the Overall Goals Through
Seven Programs Activities
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Courses Mosaics Modules Granules
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End of Presentation