Analytical courses are often considered to be troublesome by students. In an attempt to get good grades, students overcome the learning gap by memorizing concepts or patterns that can solve similar problems. This approach leads to shallow learning due to non-student-centric teaching methods. The impact of active and passive activities is considered less compared to interactive and constructive methods.

A problem-solving studio (PSS) micro-insertion was created and implemented in 'Engineering Physiology' course taught as part of core curriculum in Biomedical Engineering. It was specifically applied to 'Enzyme Kinetics' modeling and problem solving.

All the activities were designed to follow the interactive, constructive, active, and passive (ICAP) framework. A teaching assistant was stationed in the classroom to monitor students and map their movement across ICAP throughout this work.  The activity aimed to improve the application of challenging concepts to solve problems and produce deeper learning. The students worked in groups with a common objective to find a solution for an open-ended question as they went through interactive activities. Groups of students indulged in assessing a scenario related to the technical concept, analyzed data, and formulated an alternative mathematical model to infer results.

Hook Statement: Kevin was diagnosed with high cholesterol and prescribed Lipitor. Doctor conducted a test on him to assess the acceptance of medication in his body after 1 week. He also wanted to see if Kevin was able to metabolize the medication. Without metabolism, the drug wont be effective to reduce cholesterol.

Kevin's friends advised him to eat fresh fruits to help naturally control cholesterol. He started introducing fresh fruits and salads in his diet. This included a glass of grapefruit juice every day in the morning with breakfast. After a few days, Kevin started seeing flu like symptoms and doctor figured his liver was suffering from inflammation. Doctor checked the level of Lipitor in his blood. He conducted the drug metabolism test again. 

Who: The module was created for junior level undergraduate Engineering Physiology course. The class was divided into 6 groups (4 students each).

Where: The micro-insertion was introduced in the course during first half of the semester. The PSS section was conducted after giving background information about enzyme-ligand binding and derivation of the Michaelis Menton equation.

When: The module was spread over 3 class hours (50 minutes each). This included in-class activities and online class discussion (homework).

What: Below is the breakdown of the activities based on class hours.

Class 1: Jamboard for research

Jamboard was conducted in class. Students were allowed to discuss the hook statement as a group, search for keywords, and write their questions and thoughts onto sticky notes they posted on their group’s jumbo post-it. It was told to them that this activity will help them find the key to progress to the next step.

Class 2: Hypothesis statement generation and data analysis

Students were given a worksheet where they constructed a hypothesis statement based on the sticky notes on their jamboard. In addition, students also had to think about ‘what critical information would they need to run an engineering analysis to test their hypothesis’. Based on the jamboard questions and their hypothesis statement, students projected that getting blood tests results conducted by the doctor before and after grapefruit consumption would help test the hypothesis. At this point, all the groups were given the blood test data set. Students immediately connected the data variables with the Michaelis Menton equation variables. Everyone used their laptops to analyze data on excel while two students shared a laptop.  The characteristic plot (rate of product formation vs. substrate) for before and after grapefruit consumption tests showed distinct differences in the maximum rate of product formation. Students used their plots to discuss the engineering reason behind the doctor’s advice to their patient regarding discontinuing grapefruit.

Class 3: New challenge, deriving Line-Weaver Burk equation

The last class hour was created to add a new challenge for the students. The Michaelis-Menton equation can be rearranged as a straight-line equation, called the Lineweaver-Burk (LB) equation. If data is mapped using the Lineweaver-Burk equation, variables such as Vmax and Km can be easily derived from the straight-line fit equation. The students were being introduced to this equation for the first time in the course during this activity. The instructor did not solve the LB equation on the board for them. Each group was given a prompt to rearrange the MM equation as a straight-line equation. All the groups worked on a new jumbo post-it together and constantly interacted with each other and the instructor. Each group then re-plotted their data as a straight line and calculated Vmax and Km again for each blood test. Sample student work is attached.

Homework: Result and analysis slide post and peer discussion

Students posted a slide that included both plots they produced during the activity, data analysis, and their reflection on the discussion thread created on Kodiak (course dispensing tool). Besides, their group members were asked to comment on the slides and leave constructive feedback. Student work is attached.