Middle School Outreach
description
Transcript of Middle School Outreach
Middle School Outreach
Steve JohnsonBuenaventura Chapter,
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology SocietyAugust, 2007
Acknowledgements
• Chapter Officers– Pat Jacobs– Brian Rasnow– Mike Shaw– David Steinmeier
• IEEE Foundation Grant #2006-007
• Cal Lutheran University Students– Joshua Lee *– Thomas Estus *– Gregory Johnson *– Stephen Roberts *– Corey Russo *– Abigail Corrin
* Presenters
Summary
• Our chapter introduced biomedicalengineering to 7th grade students throughan entertaining road show.
• We present familiar medical tools, explain how engineers help people by designing them.
• We have presented the program to over 400 middle-school students in southern California.
• The presenters are students from the Cal Lutheran University (CLU) student chapter of IEEE-EMBS.
• The initiative was funded by IEEE Foundation Grant #2006-007.
Funding
• The initiative was conceived, and grant proposal written to the IEEE Foundation in 2005.
• The IEEE Foundation fundedthe grant in early 2006.
• Details of the implementationof the program changed dur-ing development; we kept theIEEE Foundation updated through quarterly progress reports.
• We received permission to extend expenditures into 2007.
• We filed a Project Completion Report in 2007, which was accepted at the Foundation’s June meeting.
Why Middle School Students?
• Middle School students are intellectually curious, energetic, and fun. We hoped to harness that sense of enthusiasm through our roadshow.
• Middle School students are advanced enough to understand basic engineeringand scientific principles.
• After Middle School, kids steer away from engineering, math, and the sciences. We hoped to intervene.
• In the United States, the 7th grade curriculum is particularly appropriate, as it focuses on physiology, anatomy, and the scientific method.
Course Materials
• Chapter officers prepared the lesson plan using the California standard format.
• Students at California Lutheran University's Bioengineering Program developed the presentation materials and script, assigned roles, and conducted rehearsals prior to the presentations.
• The presentation is about 45 minutes long, combining didactic, interactive, and hands-on elements.
• Lesson Plan and Presentation are available at
www.bv-embs-chapter.com
ECG Demonstration
• To make the lesson more tangible, we purchased a BioPac Science Lab kit to display the students' own ECG signals.
• We had many volunteers during our presentations.• The student presenters enjoyed practicing with the ECG.
Results
• School District officials have been enthusiastic!
• They've been impressed with:
– preparation of the lesson plan and presentation materials
– alignment with the 7th grade curriculum
– use of didactic, interactive, and hands-on learning modes
– involvement and leadership of CLU bioengineering students
– the fact that we had anticipated their needs in designing this to fit within a 45-minute class period
– little advance prep required from the teachers
• We’ve been invited back for the 2007-2008 school year!