Ignite: Place-based Community-centered Design to Promote Biomedical Engineering Efficacy
This study evaluates the impact of Ignite’s Health programming, an informal engineering experience designed for middle and high school students and facilitated by Duke University undergraduate students. Participants design health-related projects such as pulse oximeters while gaining hands-on experience in problem-solving and the engineering design process. Ignite’s Health program is guided by constructivist and resilience theories and seeks to empower secondary-aged students to grow their skill sets in biomedical engineering and encourage them to pursue science-oriented careers in the future. Constructivist theory emphasizes the active role that students play in the learning process by drawing upon their past experiences to generate new knowledge. Resilience theory focuses on facilitating students’ ability to adapt to and navigate setbacks. Data was collected from surveys and interviews conducted during three middle and three high school implementations between 2021 and 2024. An analysis of the data revealed that Ignite Health participants experienced increased confidence in their STEM abilities, stronger self-perceived identities as engineers, and higher levels of resilience, especially among female and gender minority students. These results suggest that Ignite is effective in building self-efficacy and increased engagement in STEM, particularly for underrepresented groups, and may lead to increased student interest in pursuing science-and engineering-related careers in the future.
