Expanding the Concept of Learning Space in Biomedical Engineering Education using Wearable Devices and Cloud-based Collaborative Programming Environments

Abstract

Biomedical engineering undergraduate students often underestimate the relevance of their courses as they hardly perceive their practical application in future professional development, resulting in a lack of interest, motivation, and engagement. This issue may be addressed by implementing practical or “hands-on” learning experiences that allow students to construct their knowledge and apply skills in real-world scenarios. This work proposes to create learning experiences supported by blended learning spaces, including traditional classrooms for direct instruction, daily-life scenarios for experiential learning enabled by wearable devices, and cloudbased programming environments for online collaborative work. The learning experience presented was implemented in a biomedical signals and systems course. Students used health wearables to record their physiological and behavioral signals in everyday scenarios and Google Collaboratory notebooks to analyze the collected data. The survey results applied to students suggest that technology-enabled blended learning spaces positively impact students’ perception of their learning experience. However, other potential benefits in learning derived from the use of technologies, such as increased student engagement and motivation and improved learning outcomes, require further investigation. This is particularly relevant given the monetary investment that scaling up this pedagogical approach would need.