Debanjan Mukherjee’s research while affiliated with University of Colorado Boulder and other places

This article is an editorial for the ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 2024 Special Edition on Education in Biomechanics.

The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated mainstream adoption of online and remote learning approaches which were highly advantageous yet challenging in many ways. The online modality, while teaching biomedical engineering-related topics in the areas of biomechanics, mechanobiology, and biomedical sciences, further added to the complexity faced by the faculty and students. Both the benefits and the challenges have not been explored systematically by juxtaposing experiences and reflections of both the faculty and students. Motivated by this need, we designed and conducted a systematic survey named BIORES-21, targeted towards the broader bioengineering community. Survey responses and our inferences from survey findings cumulatively offer insight into the role of employed teaching/learning technology and challenges associated with student engagement. While some alternatives to overcoming these challenges were also presented, the continuation of online learning techniques as in-person education resumes in many places was evident. Overall, the data presented summarizes the key benefits of online learning that emerged from the experiences during the pandemic.