Student designed laboratory experiments in biomedical instrumentation

The laboratory portion of a graduate course in biomedical instrumentation is described. The experiments were not developed by the teacher, but rather by the students. Each student selected a topic, did outside reading, developed the experiment, and wrote up the procedure. During the second half of the semester each student ran all experiments developed by the other students, thus ensuring a commonality of experience. The brief description of the experiments given here may suggest ideas for other teachers in this specialty. There are advantages to student designed experiments. The teacher´s work load is reduced during both the development and the write-up of the experiment. The student´s interest is heightened by the design aspects of this open-ended situation. His output is examined by his peers, as well as by his teacher; thus increasing motivation. The format of student designed laboratory experiments may be useful in other courses where we desire to change the student´s experience from passive following directions to more active participation in design.