Curriculum Development Initiatives

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON ENGINEERED BIOMATERIALS

The UWEB ERC is committed to playing a leadership role in developing an educational paradigm for introducing modern biology into the University of Washington College of Engineering curriculum -- a role which is natural, given its scientific focus. To this end, the Undergraduate Curriculum Development subcommittee of the Education Committee has developed a core curriculum that incorporates a required new course called "Engineer's Tool Chest" and a list of existing courses. Students will have the opportunity to get an emphasis or specialty area in Biomaterials for 12 credit hours by taking the required course and other courses from the following list.

Undergraduate Biomaterials Emphasis/Specialty Area

I. Requirements

• Engineer's Tool Chest - 3 units
• Additional Requirements

  One of the Biology Courses listed in 1

  1. Biology - 2 quarter sequence, or 2 quarters UCONJ for students with background (8 units)
     
     One course selected from 2, 3, or 4
  2. Molecular Recognition Molecular Bioengineering Fundamentals (3 units)
  3. Molecular Materials - Biomaterials (4 units)
  4. Cell Interactions with Biomaterials (4 units)

Preparing Future Faculty Certificate Program

This program will consist of four components. The first component is a new course in pedagogy principles that will be taught by Dr. John Medina. The course has been designed to "teach students how to teach". He will be utilizing videotaping and other creative approaches to preparing the students in lecture technique, course organization, etc., and will also feature guest lectures by educators from the College of Education and Medical Education. The course will be taught in the summer quarter for three units of credit (three one hour lectures for ten weeks), and will thus provide an intensive and extensive introduction to pedagogy practice. We expect that many graduate students will benefit from this course, as it is expected to draw students who will not necessarily continue on to fulfill the full certificate requirements. We also expect that many of our faculty will find this course a useful way to improve their pedagogy skills.

The second component will be a new course in curriculum development that will also be taught by Dr. Medina. Dr. Medina is an expert in multimedia and animation tools, and he has successfully utilized these tools to aid in teaching cutting-edge molecular and cellular biology to engineering students. In this three-unit, quarter-long class, he will provide a hands-on introduction to our students in the use of several multimedia and animation software packages. In addition, he will provide case studies of how multimedia technology has been used successfully in previously developed engineering curricula.

The third component of the new program will be a carefully supervised and mentored classroom teaching experience. We will be utilizing not only UW faculty mentors but also some mentors at local universities and community colleges that specialize in undergraduate instruction. The experiences will be carefully chosen so that the teaching assistantship includes extensive lecture development experience and testing and evaluation experience. Mentorship during this period will also be provided by the University of Washington's Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR).

The fourth component will be a curriculum development project that will be conducted with a bioengineering faculty member. This project may be to develop a WEB-based set of interactive problems and solutions, a multimedia focus in the lectures, a content addition that stresses some link between engineering and biology, etc. Readings in curriculum development theory and practice will be required of all students during this phase. The idea is to actually train the students in the creative side of graduate education, making it clear that education is an intellectually challenging endeavor that offers many opportunities for creative new approaches. In addition to providing the students with an introduction to curriculum development, this program is also designed to upgrade the department's curricula; we expect that many of the projects will provide models that can also be exported nationally to other bioengineering departments.

Entrepreneurship in Technology Certificate Program

The EIT Certificate Program is designed to provide a core curriculum for all students, while maintaining flexibility by providing two pathways of study depending on the individual student's orientation toward traditional industry or entrepreneurial careers. As a mechanism for bringing science and engineering graduate students up to speed with fundamental concepts and language prior to entering the MBA courses described below, an intensive new orientation series will be created.

There will be two core courses required for each student: Bpol 530 - Entrepreneurship (4 units) and MKT 528 - Marketing Issue for New Ventures (4 units). Both of these core courses have an entrepreneurial emphasis, but provide fundamental skills for new technology development that are key to new-product development and assessment in both traditional and startup careers. The Bpol 530 course is focused on giving students a broad acquaintance with many different facets of entrepreneurship as a basis for career choice. The many facets of entrepreneurship are illustrated through field and case studies, such as organizational form, funding sources, analyses of strengths and weaknesses, the startup team, and the product launch. The MKT 528 course examines the skills and tools that entrepreneurs need for bootstrap marketing in their start-up firms. Through classroom and field exercises, students will learn to identify target market segments, position their product or service, estimate demand, set prices, gain access to channels for products or services that are still in the early stage of their development, and manage the issues of rapid growth.

The students will then choose between an Intrapreneurship Pathway and an Entrepreneurship Pathway, depending on their particular career orientation. Each student will be required to take a minimum of two additional courses at 4 units each from a menu of options (for a total of 16 units together with the core requirements). The Entrepreneurship Pathway will require Bpol 532 - Developing the New Venture Plan, where mixed teams of MBA students and science/engineering students will work together to develop their own business plans for venture concepts. The fourth course requirement for this pathway will be selected from several options including Bpol 540 - Intellectual Property and Contract Law for Entrepreneurs, Fin 579 - New Venture Financing, and Bpol 533 - New Venture Practicum. The Intrapreneurship Pathway will require Bpol 555 - Intrapreneurship and Corporate Venturing, which presents an overview of the skills needed to create and implement new ventures or businesses within the established organization. The fourth course requirement for this pathway will then be selected from several options including MKTG 530 - Managing the Sales Functions of the Firm, and OE 570 - Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation. In addition, for both pathways there will be Independent Study options for specialized projects and study appropriate for each student's individual needs.

In addition to the formal course requirements, the students will be expected to participate in the High-Tech Entrepreneurs Speaker Series, the PEI Club, and the Business Plan Competition. These programmatic components provide several important opportunities for students in the EIT Program, including important contact with business and entrepreneurial professionals.

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