Taking local optics outreach abroad for IYL 2015: administrative and logistical challenges and strategies

Wong, Niki S.C.; Posner, Matthew T.; Mittal, Vinita; Gray, D. R.; John, Pearl V.

doi:10.1117/12.2237442

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Based on the goals set out for the IDL 10 , three main themes were chosen for this outreach and public engagement project: increasing the awareness of how light and its applications are present in everyday life; using light-based activities to develop STEM education; and highlighting the uses of light in a multitude of disciplines, particularly the links between light and art. These were also the themes that had been previously used successfully by OPSoc, the Lightwave Roadshow and in the IYL 2015.…”

Section: Goals For the University Of Southampton Celebrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student-led outreach and public engagement activities at the University of Southampton to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Light

Stirling¹,

Donko²,

Baktash³

et al. 2018

Optics Education and Outreach V

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The 16 th May 2018 marks the first annual International Day of Light (IDL). The steering committee of the IDL initiative encouraged grassroots activities to increase the awareness and understanding of the applications of light. One such undertaking is the program of events developed by the postgraduate students of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton (UoS). The program focused on engaging with the public and local schools with low levels of progression to higher education. Three events were designed: an outreach masterclass, combining activities and demonstrations from well-established workshops covering light in telecommunications, manufacturing and medicine; an art competition in a local school, for students to express scientific knowledge in a creative way; and a public panel, to explore the uses of light in a multitude of disciplines and open academic research to a broader audience. This paper explains how the events built on the ORC students' long history of outreach and the legacy of the International Year of Light. Each event is outlined in detail, explaining the objectives and the rationale behind the audience selection. The program outcomes are described, including the impact, the methods employed and the utilization of expert partners to increase the program reach (commercial media, local schools and UoS's diversity and inclusion outreach department), and the lessons learned from the program are assessed. These experiences can be used to recycle and adapt this format for other grassroots IDL programs. This project received funding through a SPIE IDL Micro Grant.

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Section: Goals For the University Of Southampton Celebrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student-led outreach and public engagement activities at the University of Southampton to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Light

Stirling¹,

Donko²,

Baktash³

et al. 2018

Optics Education and Outreach V

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“…In addition, they organized travel and lodging arrangements for the delegation, equipment transportation, and preparation of relevant documentation (risk assessments, letters to parents of the pupils, the travel itinerary, emergency contact details, etc.). The exercise presented a steep learning curve for all PGRs involved, and the process was facilitated by experienced university staff; the reader is referred to a recent report for a review of challenges and considerations of doing international outreach 10 .…”

Section: Student-led Outreachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The kit, which more recently was named the "Compact Optics Suite", has been used by us in many events abroad and also won the 2015 OSA "IYL-To-Go" student chapter competition, as detailed in 10 .…”

Section: Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

From school classes to UNESCO: IYL-enabled environments for tackling the STEM skills shortage through student-led outreach

et al. 2016

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The accepted industrial skills shortage in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the United Kingdom has led to an increasing drive for universities to work with a wider pool of potential students. One contributor to this drive is the Lightwave Roadshow, a photonics-focused outreach program run by postgraduate students from the University of Southampton. The program has benefitted from the unique platform of the International Year of Light (IYL) 2015 for the development and support of hands-on and interactive outreach activities. In this report we review Lightwave activities facilitated by IYL that focused on widening participation for students aged 6 to 18 years from a multitude of societal categories; the roadshow has directly benefitted from the significance and investment into the IYL in conjunction with university recruitment strategies, local schools and the support of international organizations such as SPIE and OSA. Lightwave has used the foundation of the IYL to provide a wide range of activities for over 1,200 UK students in 53 different schools; the assessment tools used to measure learning outcomes, reach and impact are also discussed. The program's activities have been developed to make younger age groups the center of the outreach activity and create an environment which encourages youth pursuit of optics and science from a grassroots level upwards; to illustrate this we will outline a Lightwave project endorsed by the IYL steering committee to permit two 6 th form students to attend the IYL opening ceremony in Paris.

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“…We direct the reader towards a recent report for further discussion on the drivers of this culture change 5 and also funding opportunities that can benefit community programs, in particular for student-led community education programs. 6 The quality of the engagement activity from an educational and social perspective is an important factor, and there are growing requirements to provide measurable evidence of the impact of the activity: we will present in §5 examples of results that can be employed for reporting purposes when working with pupils. One strategy to gain access to wider areas of the local community is to diversify the offerings of engagement and education actions with different types of events; we present in the following subsections outreach and public engagement programs offered by the University of Southampton involving workshops and shows.…”

Section: Widening Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cathedral outreach: student-led workshops for school curriculum enhancement in non-traditional environments

Posner

Jantzen

Ravagli

et al. 2017

14th Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics: ETOP 2017

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Universities in the United Kingdom have been driven to work with a larger pool of potential students than just the more traditional student (middle-class white male), in order to tackle the widely-accepted skills-shortage in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), whilst honoring their commitment to fair access to higher education. Student-led outreach programs have contributed significantly to this drive. Two such programs run by postgraduate students at the University of Southampton are the Lightwave Roadshow and Southampton Accelerate!, which focus on photonics and particle physics, respectively. The program ambassadors have developed activities to enhance areas of the national curriculum through presenting fundamental physical sciences and their applications to optics and photonics research. The activities have benefited significantly from investment from international organizations, such as SPIE, OSA and the IEEE Photonics Society, and UK research councils, in conjunction with university recruitment and outreach strategies. New partnerships have been formed to expand outreach programs to work in non-traditional environments to challenge stereotypes of scientists. This paper presents two case studies of collaboration with education learning centers at Salisbury Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral. The paper outlines workshops and shows developed for pupils aged 6-14 years (UK key stages 2-4) on the electromagnetic spectrum, particle physics, telecommunications and the human eye using a combination of readily obtainable items, hand-built kits and elements from the EYEST Photonics Explorer kit. The activities are interactive to stimulate learning through active participation, complement the UK national curriculum and link the themes of science with the non-traditional setting of a cathedral. We present methods to evaluate the impact of the activity and tools to obtain qualitative feedback for continual program improvement. We also share lessons learned to assist educators emulating this format of engagement, and provide ideas and inspiration of outreach activities for student chapters to carry out.

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Taking local optics outreach abroad for IYL 2015: administrative and logistical challenges and strategies

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Student-led outreach and public engagement activities at the University of Southampton to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Light

Student-led outreach and public engagement activities at the University of Southampton to celebrate the inaugural International Day of Light

From school classes to UNESCO: IYL-enabled environments for tackling the STEM skills shortage through student-led outreach

Cathedral outreach: student-led workshops for school curriculum enhancement in non-traditional environments

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