An Inquiry-Based Learning STEM Outreach Module to Teach Principles of Bioadhesives and Tissue Repair

Abstract

Bioadhesives are an important subset of biomaterials, which aid wound healing, hemostasis, and tissue repair. In order to advance the field of bioadhesives to promote more regenerative healing, there is a societal need to teach diverse trainees about their design, engineering, and testing. To address this, we deployed a hands-on, inquiry-based learning (IBL) bioadhesives module to middle school students from underserved communities in the Young Eisner Scholars (YES) program. The module, which lasted approximately 3 hr, was designed to teach students about applications of bioadhesives, engineering bioadhesives for various biomedical applications, and mechanically testing their adhesive strength using standard practices. Students who participated in our IBL bioadhesives module displayed significant learning gains by pre/post-test assessment, demonstrating that the module was effective for middle school outreach. Pre/post-survey assessments showed no significant differences in attitudes towards STEM, which was likely due to the fact that students in YES had a strong predisposition for STEM. Overall, results motivate the use of this module, or similar hands-on IBL modules, for outreach with K-12 students who are underrepresented in STEM.

Figure 1.. Representative bioadhesive testing procedure and student data demonstrating successful adhesion of chamois leather strips and lap-shear mechanical testing.

(A) Leather chamois strips with plastic safety ties. (B) Example of lap-shear mechanical testing procedure using a luggage scale to measure force. (C) Graph of average force to failure for gelatin bioadhesives over different drying times. Graphs were created live during the activity using student-generated data.

Figure 2.. Students demonstrated significant learning gains after completing the IBL bioadhesives outreach module.

(A) Average student pre/post-test scores. ** = p < 0.01. (B) Percentage of students who answered individual questions correctly on pre/post-test assessments.

Figure 3.

Students had high baseline interest in STEM, which did not significantly change after completing the IBL bioadhesives outreach module.