Preparation of biology review and virtual experiment/training videos to enhance learning in biochemical engineering courses

Abstract

Two major challenges are inherent in any biology-related engineering subject (e.g. biochemical engineering, biomechanical engineering, or civil/environmental engineering) - (1) the student must have a good understanding of fundamental biology concepts to fully comprehend the advanced engineering concepts and (2) most of the techniques discussed in these courses are too time-consuming, hazardous, or expensive to demonstrate in a classroom setting. We have addressed these issues by preparing a series of videos that review basic biology concepts and demonstrate several common biochemical engineering (BioChE) techniques and experiments. The primary goal of the review videos is to ensure that students have a firm grasp on basic biology concepts to help them fully understand the more advanced BioChE topics discussed in class. These videos can also be assigned before class, allowing us to spend more class time discussing new and advanced BioChE concepts. The goal of the experiment videos is to help us expose the students to state-of-the-art experimental techniques in lecture-based classes or to help them better prepare for the experiments that they conduct in lab-based courses. We have also used these videos to streamline the training process for undergraduate and graduate students performing research in our labs. Some of the review and experiment videos have already been utilized in our BioChE courses and we have evaluated their effectiveness with student surveys. The feedback from these surveys is highly positive and indicates that the videos help to enhance student learning.