Human Centered Design of Biotechnology

Classroom Activities

The following activities (Empathy, Lean Country Analysis, Failure Analysis, Physiology Literature Review, and Building a Helping Hand) will take approximately three weeks to complete.  Preparation for a symposium will take an additional six weeks, but this can be spread out over a long period of time (for example, dedicate one day each week during the first semester to symposium preparation).

Empathy

Empathy is an important first step in trying to design for a vulnerable population.  This exercise allows students to research populations, such as homeless or geriatric, and then figure out what it’s like to belong to that population.  Once students have researched their population in small groups, they will make a poster about that population and present it to the class.  This poster should have a roughly drawn person and room to add descriptions.  Their drawing needs to have real or symbolic attributes which represent physical, mental, or emotional characteristics of a person from that population.  For example, students might draw a brain on their person and label that “PTSD” with a description “31% of homeless in San Jose suffer from PTSD”.³³  Students may need prompting such as “Your person needs eyes; what can you imagine a homeless person would see a lot?”  Posters should be displayed around the room for reference as students are working on their projects and brainstorming ideas that will have the greatest impact in their chosen population.

Lean Country Analysis

“We cannot just look at a country by looking at charts, graphs, and modeling the economy.  Behind the numbers there are people.”³⁴

Students will work individually or in small groups to analyze various lean countries.  They will use annotation techniques to find information about the culture of the country.  Then they will use HDI data from UNDP to graph and analyze the country’s resources.³⁵  This information should also be presented and widely available to the class as students progress through the design process and consider global versus local technological impacts.

Failure Analysis

The pacemaker, a device that can regulate the rhythm of a misfiring heart, has come a long way from the huge machines of the 1950s.  The breakthrough to small, implantable devices was actually the result of carelessness.  Wilson Greatbatch was trying to build a heart rhythm recorder in 1956 and put the wrong resistor in a circuit.  What he created did not record the heart rhythm; it created the heart rhythm.  His device was the precursor to the modern pacemaker, a device that has saved millions of lives.³⁶  Students will work independently or in small groups to research, analyze, and report out about a famous failure in science.

Physiology Literature Review

Designing medical technology requires a detailed knowledge of anatomy and physiology.  Students will conduct a literature review and write a report about the body system(s) directly affected by their technology.  For example, if the students were to pursue a better pacemaker design, they would need to research and write about how the cardiovascular system works and the current pacemaker technology.

Building a Helping Hand

Students will practice the Engineering Design Process by building a working model of a hand with cheap materials found around the home that can perform a task of their choosing (such as hold on to a surfboard).  The base project is originally from Science Buddies (Build a Helping Hand Science Project³⁷), but uses The Adjacent Possible and Curb Cut Effect to help them come up with a solution to a new problem.  They must document their progress, including opportunities to learn from the failure during the iterative process.  They will then show their results to the class, assess their new technology, and describe their next steps.  Table 4 shows an example technology assessment tool that students can use to organize their thoughts.

Technology Assessment Tool

Table 4:  Technology Assessment questions to help students think critically and honestly about their product.

Partners in Innovation

Once my students have a handle on how to analyze vulnerable populations, they will work with one or more of the following organizations to identify and prototype innovative medical technology.  Students can work with mentors to design solutions, build prototypes, and test these with their chosen population.  Students will then consider the global applications of their product by modifying it for use in another country with a similar need.  Students must consider technical feasibility, economic viability, accessibility, and cultural appropriateness.  Finally, students will present their project at the appropriate symposium.

City of San Jose

The City of San Jose works to promote community engagement in our schools and I hope to include them in the process of identifying and working with vulnerable populations in this area.

Synopsis sciencepalooza!

The Synopsys Silicon Valley Science & Technology Outreach Foundation funds a yearly science fair called sciencepalooza! for the students of East Side Union High School District.  The official science fair symposium is typically held in February.  Winners of this science fair can advance to county, state, and national science fairs.

Stanford University FAST (Future Advancers of Science and Technology)

Stanford pairs graduate student mentors with science fair participants to work on high level science projects.  The students present their work at Sciencepalooza.

BioEHSC (Bioengineering Honor Society Competition)

The Bioengineering Honor Society at UC Berkeley hosts a competition in which high school students work with a mentor to find a bioengineering solution to a problem in medicine or biology.  Students present their project at the BioEHSC Symposium.  The symposium is typically held in April.

The Amgen Biotech Experience

Amgen Biotech works with UC Berkeley to bring authentic biotechnology into the classroom.  They provide free training and loan out research-grade equipment in order to give students real world genetic engineering experiences.