Characterizing Teamwork Dynamics and Computational Model-Based Reasoning in Biomedical Engineering Projects

Background: In STEM professions, teamwork is a fundamental aspect of the job. As a result, it becomes imperative for STEM graduates to possess a comprehensive set of professional skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership, and creative thinking to name a few. In this study, the focus is investigating teamwork dynamics within interdisciplinary Biomedical Engineering teams to understand and characterize the role the teamwork process plays in students' model-based reasoning activities. Purpose: In this study, preliminary contributions are made to understanding how biomedical engineering students engage their computational model-based reasoning and team-based skills through effective collaboration and social interaction over a semester-long project in a graduate course. The research question guiding the study is: "How do biomedical engineering students engage their model-based reasoning, interdisciplinary learning, and teamwork dynamics skills when enacting computational modeling and simulation practices?" Methods: The conceptual frameworks for this study are rooted in the cognitive-constructivist and social-constructivist theoretical perspectives. The research design adopts a mixed-method case study design approach where qualitative data is transformed and analyzed quantitatively to address the research question. The case study approach focused on the participants within a chosen team and involved a single case analysis across three modeling and simulation sessions. Results: The qualitative findings reveal five team dynamics dependent variables and four independent modeling and simulation stages inherent in the 3-hour 180-minute-long teamwork interactions between three graduate students. The quantitative visualizations showed that the students engaged in knowledge-sharing and interdisciplinary learning events seventeen times in all three project meeting sessions. Implications: The insights derived from this research can prove valuable in implementing effective team-based course intervention strategies that pertain to project-based modeling and simulation instruction. Students and practitioners are furnished with evidence-based outcomes endorsing the need to fully integrate comprehensive team-focused problem-solving methods in tackling complex STEM-based modeling and simulation challenges.