ABSTRACT

Biomimicry is a useful method to develop students’ skills, such as design and systems thinking, particularly when complemented with inquiry-based learning. The research seeks to uncover how students engage in the biomimicry process and what types of designs they produce to reveal insights that could assist educators in teaching biomimicry. A study was conducted with 70 undergraduate students who were placed into 12 groups. Using an inquiry-based learning method, students selected their own health challenge and proposed a biomimetic design. Students submitted reports which were analysed via thematic analysis revealing numerous findings, including two common forms of biomimicry carried out by students, further insights into the strategy of ‘cross breed mimicry’, the types of organisms students imitated, and the successes and difficulties students faced in applying biomimicry. It contributes to the understanding of how students engage in biomimicry. This research is among one of the first studies to apply an existing six stage biomimicry process and to test this in the field of biomedical engineering.