Session T4J 978-1-4244-4714-5/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE October 18 - 21, 2009, San Antonio, TX 39 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference T4J-1 Towards Integrative Learning in Biomedical Engineering: A Project Course on Electrocardiogram Monitor Design Alfred C. H. Yu, Billy Y. S. Yiu, Ivan K. H. Tsang, and Paul Y. S. Cheung Medical Engineering Program, The University of Hong Kong Corresponding Email: alfred.yu@hku.hk Abstract - This paper presents the development of a guided project course that aims to help biomedical engineering students integrate technical concepts in electric circuits, biomedical instrumentation, and human physiology. Our course involves the design of an electrocardiogram monitor from scratch, and it differs from other lab-based courses that comprise a series of individual experiments. There are three project stages in this course: 1) breadboard prototype design, 2) device fabrication using printed circuit board techniques, and 3) pilot experimentation. Each stage has its own aligned set of objectives, learning activities, and assessment exercises for students to achieve or complete. Course surveys have been conducted at the end of the first two stages to solicit ongoing feedback from students. The survey results indicate that many students have high learning interest in our course mainly because it is the first time for them to build a medical device and use it to perform experiments. Many have agreed that the course has helped to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills, although there are concerns over its heavy workload as compared to lecture-based courses. Index Terms – Biomedical engineering, electrocardiogram monitor design, guided project, integrative learning. INTRODUCTION Biomedical engineering (BME) is well-regarded as a fast- growing discipline in the 21 st century in view of the increased healthcare needs for an aging population [1]. In the United States, there are over 60 colleges offering accredited BME undergraduate programs [2]. Even in the commerce-driven Hong Kong metropolitan (the authors’ home city), two higher institutions are now offering BME undergraduate degrees [3]. For most of these programs, their curriculum typically comprises a broad set of theoretical courses that are taught via the traditional lecturing approach. BME undergraduates are usually supplemented with practicum learning experience through two modes: 1) lab exercises embedded within individual courses, and 2) lab- based courses developed from a series of experiments. As reviewed by Perreault et al. [4], these modes of practicum learning are necessary to enhance students’ understanding of the technical concepts that they acquired through lectures. Nevertheless, the distributed nature of the lab sessions makes it difficult for students to form an integrated perspective of their knowledge base and develop the proper insights needed to solve real-world BME problems that are complex in nature [5]. Indeed, as pointed out by Gatchell and Linsenmeier [6], some in the healthcare industry are concerned that BME graduates may know a broad range of subjects but lack the know-how in each of them. These potential employers are often more interested in recruiting individuals with high technical competence and strong transferrable skills (e.g. problem solving, critical thinking, and communications) [7]. As core members of the BME undergraduate program at our institution, we have been devising ways to help students integrate the theoretical principles that they have learned in different courses. To this end, we have developed a semester-long guided project course that requires students to work on a BME design problem involving technical concepts in three disciplinary areas: 1) electric circuits, 2) biomedical instrumentation, and 3) human physiology. Our project course is about the design of a portable electro- cardiogram (ECG) monitor from scratch using basic electronic components (op-amp, resisters, and capacitors) and the use of printed circuit board (PCB) techniques to fabricate such a device. Students in this course are also required to use their developed device to conduct pilot experiments that attempt to address a physiologically-related question. In this paper, we will describe how our ECG design course has been organized and delivered to the students. Survey results will also be presented on how students think about the effectiveness of our course. Towards the end, we will discuss our views on how our course development work can be taken forward in the future. BACKGROUND CONSIDERATIONS In the context of higher education, integrative learning is not a new concept, and it has been advocated by BME educators for some time [8]. As reviewed by Huber and Hutchings [9], the core aim of integrative learning is for students to make connections across disciplinary boundaries and apply what they have learned to solve more complicated problems. One common integrative learning activity is to assign students to work on design projects [10], [11]. This hands-on learning approach seems to be suitable for BME students as their learning styles are generally marked by four characteristics: visual, active, sensing, and global [12]. Another advantage of project-based learning is that it provides opportunities for students to develop their non-technical skills like problem solving, teamwork, and communications, all of which can be