Method of continuous improvement of multidisciplinary programs and outreach activities

Abstract

The growth of the global photonics market and technology investment creates a need for skilled professionals with multidisciplinary knowledge. The development of a successful multidisciplinary training for these professionals requires special attention to the implemented educational approaches. Current methods of multidisciplinary teaching and learning include tutoring by a team of experts of different backgrounds and development of projects among multidisciplinary teams of students. In these cases, a detailed feedback is needed from students and teachers in order to improve the course and keep a consistent alignment among the learning outcomes, teaching strategy, and evaluation methods. In this study, we describe the implementation of a method based on continuous improvement of multidisciplinary outreach activities and undergraduate programs. We illustrate the results of this implementation by showing samples of the feedback we received from students and teachers. The overall quality of the teaching and the content of the subject matter was perceived as good by students. Teachers' evaluation showed students' knowledge and behavior was satisfactory and the learning outcomes were achieved. Based on this, we believe our educational approach could improve the development and implementation of multidisciplinary activities.

Biophotonics box: educational kit for multidisciplinary outreach activities in optics and photonics

“…The biophotonics box is an educational kit developed to replace laboratory experiments of previous 7-hour in-person biophotonics workshops conducted during the Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) annual undergraduate and postgraduate summer student bursary program at Tyndall National Institute [3,4] combined with computer simulations [5]. Our educational kit consists of a set of electronic components for an ultraviolet, red, green, blue light emitting diode (UV-RGB LED) circuit, as well as materials to (1) demonstrate fluorescence in daily life objects, (2) to make phantoms mimicking biological media such as tissues, and (3) to make a smartphone microscope.…”

Online learning combining virtual lectures, at-home experiments and computer simulations: a multidisciplinary teaching and learning approach

“…Our virtual BW was intended to replace our previous 7-hour BW conducted during the Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) annual undergraduate and postgraduate summer student bursary program at Tyndall National Institute [3][4][5]. In 2020, the audience of the virtual BW involved 15 undergraduate students participating in this 10-week long program undertaking a photonics research project while attending professional development webinars and workshops.…”

Biophotonics computer app: fostering multidisciplinary distance self-paced learning with a user-friendly interface

“…In the past (2018 and 2019), we have designed a biophotonics app which meets the aforementioned ideal and preferential criteria (except by the offline functioning feature) [2]. The app was tested in the annual 7-hour biophotonics workshop as part of Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) annual undergraduate and postgraduate summer student bursary program at Tyndall National Institute [3,4]. In 2020, we have adapted our app to work offline upon software installation [5] and used it in our virtual biophotonics workshop to provide students with a tool to simulate measurements of high technological lab equipment and estimate optical properties of biological media upon knowledge of its biochemical constitution.…”