Journal of Engineering Education Transformations

Abstract

Abstract— Creating interest and involvement of engineering students into the domain specific research work is indispensable for the future technology developments. Original intellectual and creative contribution through experimentation to the discipline can bring new developments significant for societal reforms. This paper presents an effort to nurture research interest among postgraduate students of Biomedical Engineering. In order to nurture a research attitude, a Lab component for the course Biomedical Image Analysis was modified with practical reflection-based learning style. The impact analysis of this exercise is studied objectively. The newly designed Lab component included more practice-based learning, demanding additional time from students and teacher, for the discussion and reflection-based learning. Assessing students on the basis of critical thinking, focused efforts and the right approach in devising the solution for real-life problems played a critical role in this pedagogy. The impact of this exercise on students learning is analyzed by comparing course outcomes and program outcomes attainment for two batches with batch size 14 and 16 respectively. The assessment was based onrubrics devised for various phases. The course outcomes were improved by 6 to 12% for the experimental Batch. This is also reflected in increase in PO attainment in the same proportion. Particularly, attainment of course outcomes related to handling complex real-life problem and to develop solution showed considerable improvement. The results revealed individual student's ability in implementing and analyzing the open-ended experiment. The major conclusion from this educational experimental work is that the conceptual, practical, and interpretational skills necessary for research can be inculcated by devising innovative pedagogy. This work also reports positive sideways of this practice and the difficulties faced during the entire exercise.

Keywords— Research Paradigm, Reflection based learning, Open ended Lab component, Industry readiness