Engaging undergraduate students in a biomedical research project: a virtual collaboration across institutes under the pandemic environment

In this work-in-progress (innovative practices) paper, we introduced a biomedical engineering research project to students in our primarily undergraduate institute (PUI) where sources and research activities are limited. Here, we present the motivation, background, best practices, initial assessment, and future work. Through virtual collaboration with a research institute, the project helped engage students in research activity, broaden the current scope of our project-based pedagogy, and address the typical challenges in online learning. In this semester-long project, a group of seven students from two schools developed a highly coupled Simulink model that captured the behaviors of the human cardiovascular system. The model aimed to study the aging effect of the aorta on cardiac power and blood pressure. Regarding the project design, we introduced the concept from the software engineering, i.e., “Agile Principle” and “Minimal Viable Product”. Students started to develop a working model of one component (i.e., O2 and CO2 exchange model in the tissue) from the entire system. Through multiple iterations, the model was debugged, expanded, and polished. We recognized the critical role of communication in the virtual space. Besides routine team meetings on Zoom, we also mentored students with model debugging time through the Slack platform. Students developed their professional skills through weekly learning journals where ideas, reflection, confusion can be shared with faculty. The preliminary assessment indicates positive impacts, such as growth mindset, time management, and more career options.