There is a need for pedagogical techniques that increase student engagement among underrepresented groups in engineering. Relating engineering content to student interests, particularly through biomechanics applications, shows promise toward engaging a diverse group of students. This study investigates the effects of student interests on engagement and performance in 10th grade students enrolled in a summer program for students underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The authors assessed the effects of interest-tailored lectures on student engagement and performance in a 5-week program with bioengineering workshops, focusing on the delivery of biomechanics content. A total of 31 students received interest-tailored lectures (intervention) and 23 students received only generic lectures (control) in biomechanics. In addition, the authors assessed the effects of teaching method (lecture, classroom activities, and laboratory tours) on student engagement. The authors found interest-tailored lectures to significantly increase student engagement in lecture compared with generic lectures. Students that received interest-tailored lectures had an insignificant, but meaningful 5% increase in student performance. Students rated laboratory tours higher in engagement than other teaching methods. This study provides detailed examples that can directly assist student teaching and outreach in biomechanics. Furthermore, the pedagogical techniques in this study can be used to increase engagement of underrepresented students in engineering.

需要一种教学技术来提高工程领域代表性不足群体的学生参与度。将工程内容与学生的兴趣联系起来，特别是通过生物力学应用，有望吸引多元化的学生群体。本研究调查了学生兴趣对参加暑期项目的 10 年级学生的参与度和表现的影响，该暑期项目针对的是科学、技术、工程和数学领域代表性不足的学生。作者在为期 5 周的生物工程研讨会项目中评估了根据兴趣定制的讲座对学生参与度和表现的影响，重点关注生物力学内容的传递。共有 31 名学生接受了针对生物力学的兴趣定制讲座（干预），23 名学生仅接受了生物力学的通用讲座（控制）。此外，作者还评估了教学方法（讲座、课堂活动和实验室参观）对学生参与度的影响。作者发现，与一般讲座相比，针对兴趣定制的讲座可以显着提高学生对讲座的参与度。接受针对兴趣的讲座的学生的学生成绩提高了 5%，虽然微不足道，但意义重大。学生对实验室参观的参与度高于其他教学方法。这项研究提供了详细的例子，可以直接帮助学生进行生物力学的教学和推广。此外，本研究中的教学技术可用于提高代表性不足的学生对工程的参与度。