Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Classroom Engagement in Biomedical Engineering Education

Student engagement is critical to academic success, particularly in the interdisciplinary field of biomedical engineering (BME). However, engaging and motivating students in class have become increasingly challenging, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating this difficulty. This Perspectives paper synthesizes the insights from three faculty workshops focused on identifying and overcoming barriers to classroom engagement, hosted during the 5th BMES Council of Chairs Biomedical Engineering Educational Summit. Key barriers identified during the Summit include student-based challenges—such as student fear of failure, the challenge of connecting course content to real-world applications, and the diversity of student motivations within BME—and instructor-based challenges, such as time constraints and a lack of institutional incentives to prioritize student-centered learning approaches. We present strategies to promote and evaluate student engagement. Finally, we call for a concerted effort in both research and higher institution educational policy to implement evidence-based strategies and faculty training on effective teaching approaches that increase student engagement in the classroom.