Integrative strategy
NewFoS E&BP program includes four activities that integrate education/broadening participation/ knowledge transfer with research. These activities revolve around a convergence education program and the development of a mentoring ecosystem. For instance, a center-wide effort for the development of context-based TA educational resources (such as a needed authoritative TA textbook and accompanying digital resources) will enable integration of researchers, educators and students. NewFoS convergence education program will also enable TA knowledge transfer between NewFoS participants and the scientific community. The mentoring ecosystem will integrate research and broadening participation.
The Education and Broadening Participation goals include overarching outcomes that are reflected in the activities the center will be launching.
Education (Convergence Education) Goal: NewFoS will broaden the impact of the research by (1) developing the pedagogical and TA-based resources for the next 50+ years of accessible acoustic education, and (2) increasing the research and industry workforce in TA.
Broadening Participation (Mentoring Ecosystem) Goal: NewFoS will recruit and retain a competitive workforce through a Mentoring Ecosystem by creating pathway experiences into TA research and workforce opportunities.
To establish the executable common scientific and technical language critical to advance TA research and applications through interdisciplinary developments with accompanying curricula that will educate and train a culturally and technically skilled workforce to translate TA innovations and entrepreneurship within the contexts of societal impacts and values. Textbook approach will be to create chapters that are ‘bite-size’ or modular in approach and cover concepts written around simple systems/models. The chapters ramp up in complexity. This could mean 100+ small chapters. Chapters will fall into one of 4 categories: Basic Concepts, Fundamental TA, Methods, and Applications.
Objectives:
Engage researchers in thinking through the writing of the TA textbook for use in teaching TA to undergraduate (UG) and graduate students.
Bring in real-world community needs, concerns, and issues that TA can solve by including examples of societal impacts that benefit society.
Provide examples of cultural relevance in both the language and example resources found in the textbook content.
Output: TA modular textbook with supporting digital resources.
Outcome: NewFoS will produce a new generation of educational materials for the science and societal application of topological acoustics.
To gain a strong sense of belonging in STEM, NewFoS, and higher education, and opportunities for rich careers in STEM-related fields. Community College participants will participate in a 30-35 hour engagement experience that will introduce them to the different research taking place. They will be given real-time tours of labs at other locations as well as participate in local lab experiences.
Objectives:
Engage community college students in NewFoS in a way that is culturally and societally relevant.
Introduce community college students to the research activities of the center.
Output: A 30-35 hour engagement experience will be designed. Video tours will be recorded and posted online.
Outcome: NewFoS will grow a new workforce trained with working knowledge of topological acoustics and its role to address real world problems in information science, telecommunication, and sensing. NewFoS recruits and retains students (UG & grads) and post-docs into TA pathways.
To create an immersive experience to foster undergraduate pathways into TA research opportunities. We do this by introducing students to TA from a societally relevance lens and bringing in their own experiences with sound to the projects and through team mentoring that includes researchers, educators, and staff thus building and strengthening the TA community.
Mentor training: To make us more aware of how we engage with students by recognizing the students’ assets and their lived experiences thus bringing in their sense of belonging in TA.
Objectives:
Engage and mentor UG students in NewFoS topological acoustics research and make it culturally and societally relevant.
Create immersive research experiences that help a student understand TA foundations, methodologies, and applications.
Outputs:
Introductory primers on TA basics and on ‘intro to research’ designed for open-source publication.
56 undergraduate students trained in TA research and professional development.
Primary researcher(s) at each university along with relevant graduate students and postdocs trained in culturally responsive mentoring
Outcome:
NewFoS researchers, staff, and students are a part of a robust team mentorship network to further student academic success through gaining technical and professional skills.