THE ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY: INVESTIGATING CURRENT DIALYSIS METHODS AS A FRESHMAN DESIGN PROJECT

摘要

A new project based freshman engineering course has been developed at Villanova University to introduce students to the different engineering disciplines. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of using an artificial kidney design project in this course. The kidney is the human body's organ of purification, removing waste from blood on a daily basis. When a person's kidneys fail it is necessary for them to have outpatient dialysis at a minimum of three days a week to clear the blood of wastes and excess fluids. Students were taught basic biology and engineering principles which they used to design their own filtering device. The effectiveness of this course at introducing freshman students to engineering concepts and retaining their enthusiasm for engineering was evaluated using a pre/post course survey, student quiz performance and final student design reports (both oral and written). Overall, the instructors found the course to be effective at improving student understanding of engineering fundamentals and increasing their enthusiasm for engineering. Recommendations for improvement focus largely on the specific language of the project description that was handed out to the students.