(C-97) Bringing It All Together - Scaffolding Biomechanics Modules that Incorporate Exploration, Analysis, Design, and Evaluation Skills through a Semester-Long, Connected Injury Biomechanics Experience

Introduction:: The design and evaluation of safety equipment is a major component of biomechanics in industry, governmental, and academic settings. In an advanced biomechanics core course at Duke University, undergraduate students are exposed to fundamental biomechanical principles through the lens of real-world injury biomechanics examples. Specifically, one learning arc focuses on head injury biomechanics. Students study impact attenuation, which is vital to designing helmets, playground surfaces, and vehicle occupant protection for example. In Spring 2023, a semester-long learning arc on this topic was piloted. It incorporated active learning, fundamental principles through lecture, targeted homework problems and in-lecture examples, a laboratory module, a design experience, and a real-world hypothesis and student-driven applied laboratory experience. This arc empowered students to engage with complex, real-world biomechanics problems with minimal to no instructor guidance. The goal of the scaffolded and active learning experience was to foster higher-order thinking skills and mastery of the concepts by having each module build upon the previous one. Herein, we describe the modules, required equipment, and future research regarding student learning.


Materials and Methods:: The series included (1) active learning experiences, (2) lecture-based introduction of fundamental principles, (3) targeted homework, (4) incorporation of real-world examples, (5) a guided laboratory module, (6) a design challenge, and (7) prediction and evaluation of commercial helmets’ impact attenuation behavior. For modules (5) and (6), masses with uniaxial accelerometers attached were dropped along a smooth track and crashed onto either provided foam pads or student-designed materials as diagrammed in Figure 1. Acceleration versus time data was acquired through a signal conditioning unit and data acquisition system. The behavior of the impact with respect to displacement, velocity, and force versus time was calculated. This information was used to determine energy dissipation, stiffness of impacted materials, and Head Injury Criterion (HIC), a metric for injury risk. In the guided lab module, students assessed the effect of drop height, foam type, and foam thickness on impact behavior. For the design challenge, students worked in teams of two to design a system of materials that would best dissipate impact energy while adhering to specified dimensional constraints. Designs were presented to the class, tested, and evaluated based on minimization of the HIC. In the final laboratory module (7), students were asked to evaluate the safety of wearing a bicycle helmet to play football and wearing a football helmet while riding a bike. As a class, students designed and executed experiments to evaluate the helmets using a dummy head, wireless data acquisition system, and 8 ft. drop track system from which to conduct impact tests.


Results, Conclusions, and Discussions:: The pilot of the three-part lab series (5-7) ran successfully over the Spring 2023 semester with high levels of student engagement. These hands-on experiences incorporated scaffolding strategies and leveraged experiences from (1-4). The semester-long learning arc encouraged students to recall and recognize the value of fundamental concepts while building skills in the lab to tackle a design challenge and analyze a real-world biomechanics problem both individually and within a team context. In the context of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy², each module demanded successively higher cognitive skills. In the first lab module (5), students were introduced to impact measurement techniques and followed a prescribed protocol. The hands-on experience and lab report assignment primarily challenged students’ understanding and application skills, providing a foundation for later modules. The second lab module (6) was a design challenge, which tested the students’ ability to analyze, evaluate, and create. Finally, the third lab module (7) posed a research question in an open-ended environment, which required students to apply their learning from the previous modules by designing and conducting new experiments. While primarily challenging their evaluation and creative thinking skills, the last lab module (7) also required understanding, application, and analysis skills.



With completion of a successful pilot of these scaffolded lab modules on impact attenuation, we plan to assess student learning thoroughly during the next academic year. For the current pilot, students are providing an open-ended reflection of this semester-long experience and commenting on how experiences throughout the semester were connected, relevant, and brought value to how they approached the final lab module (7) where we were “Bringing It All Together”. We are also interested in students’ confidence with the material and their skills over the course of the lab series. Through surveys, we plan to assess how well learning objectives were met and students’ interest and curiosity on the subject next year. Overall, this set of scaffolded biomechanics modules provides a framework for hands-on learning while fostering mastery of course content and higher-level thinking.


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References (Optional): : ¹Anderson, L. W. and Krathwohl, D. R., et al (Eds..) (2001) A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Allyn & Bacon. Boston, MA.