Development and assessment of a novel systems bioengineering course integrating modeling and experimentation

Abstract

Advances in the biomedical sciences are becoming increasingly dependent upon the application of rigorous engineering principles to the study of biological systems. Most existing bioengineering curricula lack integrative courses that combine systems modeling approaches with biological "wet-lab" experimentation. We have thus developed an undergraduate senior elective course entitled "Systems Bioengineering Modeling and Experimentation" in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia. The goal of this integrative course is to enhance undergraduate preparedness for industry and graduate study in the emerging field of Systems Biology by teaching systems concepts and methods in the context of experimental techniques. The course covers modeling and experimental approaches spanning multiple scales in biology, including subcellular dynamics, cellular networks, and multicellular patterning. Modern experimental approaches include live-cell imaging, gene microarrays, and in vitro angiogenesis assays. Since the field of Systems Biology is still rapidly evolving and currently ill defined, the particular educational benefits gained from the integrative pedagogical approach we have taken have not been established previously. To determine the efficacy of this course for achieving depth of knowledge and cognitive skills in the systems approach to biomedical engineering, we administered a summative assessment instrument to all seniorundergraduates in the year the course was offered, both who were in enrolled in the course and who were not, with time points before and after the course was offered. In this paper, we describe the course structure and preliminary assessment from the first offering of this course. We also review the educational benefits and challenges associated with teaching systems biology concepts: e.g. complexity and simplification strategies, integration of biological information across spatial and temporal scales, resolving literature discrepancies in the context of a model, and parameter estimation and model validation. Initial assessment results indicate that this course provides a successful model for introducing undergraduates both to state-of-the-art techniques and to the central systems biology paradigm of iterative cycling between models and experiments. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2009.