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!