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1.INTRODUCTIONAmong various fields in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), there exists a large gender gap in computer science, engineering and physics; women have generally demonstrated a preference to pursue degrees in biology, chemistry, and mathematics.1 As highlighted by Cheryan et al1 the main reasons accounting for this disparity with physics and computer sciences field are: (a) masculine cultures that signal a lower sense of belonging to women than men, (b) a lack of sufficient early experience with computer science, engineering, and physics, and (c) gender gaps in self-efficacy. Furthermore, same reasons may explain the lower rate of persistency in the STEM field majors for under-represented groups.2 Additionally, racial prejudice and stereotyping have been shown to affect various ethnicities differently,3 as explained by Zou and Cheryan,4 based on racial perceptions of African-, Asian-, and Latino-Americans. While fundamental steps are required to be taken at early stages in a broad educational system of a country, in order to rectify the class culture and enhance exposure for under-represented groups in a university setting, and specifically for highly specialized fields of photonics and optoelectronics, a course instructor plays a critical role as the moderator and authoritative figure.5 An instructor may take an interactive approach,6,7 as a means to engage minorities, through placing them in leadership roles, imposing inquiries and questions, and incentivizing participation. The author of this article has developed, and utilized interactive techniques,8 with the purpose of enhancing minority engagement throughout the courses taught to juniors and seniors focused on optoelectronics and at Drexel University. As an example, in a lecture designed to teach the relationship between wavelength and energy of photons and the band-gap of various semiconductor materials, an interacting and inclusive environment was established by having a judgment-free dialogue with students based on asking questions on the topic and inquiring students’ opinions or conducting surveys on the subject during the lecture. Upon concluding the lecture, the students were asked to form groups of two to three, and were asked to obtain the emission spectrum of LEDs with different colors with a hand held spectrometer. This step provided an equal opportunity for all the students to further interact with the subject matter and have learning re-enforcements through immediate observation of newly learned material. This method is easy to apply, and have shown enhanced engagement among all the students and specifically minorities to interact with the topic as well as with their peers. Further details on these are elaborated in the following sections. 2.A METHOD TO ENHANCE ENGAGEMENT IN TEACHING PHOTONICSIt is well established that interactive-engagement (IE) methods of education enhance problem-solving abilities for students in physics courses in all levels, from high-school to university, beyond that obtained in traditional practice.6,9 As a subset of physics, photonic-based course have to follow similar strategies for a better return on the time invested by the students. This, in particular, is of more importance as the topics covered in photonics may be more intimidating for students due to the amount of math and concept rigor. Importantly, the utilization of IE methods places the instructor in a unique position as the class moderator to oversee interactions, engage under-represented groups, and enhance class involvement. In photonics education and particularly for undergraduates, the learning process typically includes: a) presentation of the concepts through a lecture, followed by b) lab experimentation as reinforcement. The author has constructed lectures on photonics and optoelectronics topic on an inquiry-based method, through which the attention span and engagement of students were increased. As indicated in Fig. 1, the flow diagram followed for an IE photonics lecture includes:
3.INCLUSIVITY ENHANCEMENT THROUGH LAB EXPERIMENTSOf particular interest is utilization of lab experiments as a means to increase leadership and involvement of minorities in a given topic. I have always asked the students to conduct the lab experiments as part of a group of 2-3 with a preference on a larger group size. As the instructor, I have utilized the following strategies to craft a class culture with increased inclusion and participation in the course:
These key points are also summarize in Fig. 4. 4.CONCLUSIONPractical Interactive-Engagement methods and tips for teaching photonics to undergraduate students were discussed that provided equal learning opportunity for students and enhanced involvement of minorities during a lecture session. Experiment-oriented instruction of topics combined with a dynamic and dialogue-based delivery showed increased participation from the class. As an example, experiments to obtain spectrum of LEDs was presented as a way to provoke interest among the learners. Group activity among students ensured involvement of minorities in the learning process and their assumption of leadership positions. REFERENCESCheryan, S., Ziegler, S. A., Montoya, A. K., and Jiang, L.,
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