Implementation and assessment of an undergraduate tissue engineering laboratory course

This study focused on examining how students’ perception and understanding of the tissue engineering field changed as a result of their participation in a hands-on experiential learning module. The module involved the cellular and biochemical characterization of three-dimensional cultures of mesenchymal stem cells in chondrogenic media. Students were instructed to complete concept maps depicting their perception of the tissue engineering field both prior to and after completion of the module. Similarly, they had to respond to provided design prompts and identify experimental tests and questions for doctors that would allow determination of their adaptive expertise. The results from this study demonstrate that students significantly broaden their perception of the tissue engineering field through statistically significant changes in their comprehensiveness and correctness scores on the concept map rubric. Similarly, the results of the adaptive expertise analysis demonstrate that students significantly increased adaptive expertise upon completion of the module in comparison to their responses at the start of the module. These results imply that a hands-on experiential module can be a beneficial tool for teaching students the complexity associated with a multidisciplinary field such as tissue engineering.