Collaborative Work Within Optical Engineering: Ethnography and Curricular Development

Donna M. Lanclos, Angela M. Ferrara, Matthew A. Davies, Chris J. Evans and Thomas J. Suleski

University of North Carolina, CharlotteSoTL Project Reportdlanclos@uncc.edu

AbstractThe purpose of this project is to investigate the nature of cross-cultural and crossdisciplinary collaboration in the field of Optical Engineering in order to inform the development of an effective undergraduate concentration in Optical Engineering within the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Sciences (MEES) at UNC Charlotte. Using ethnographic methods, such as observations of both instruction and laboratory research at UNC Charlotte as well as structured interviews of students, faculty and industry professionals working in the field of Optical Engineering, the researchers generated a body of qualitative data which was then organized using a codebook. Preliminary analysis of this data was completed prior to June, 2012 in time for a conference presentation at the Optical Fabrication and Testing meetings in Monterey, California. This presentation enabled the researchers to gauge interest in this area of research, stimlate further questions about our current data and breed questions for future study.

1. Introduction

The overall purpose of this project is to observe, describe, and analyze the nature of academic work in the field of Optical Science and Engineering as it is currently conducted at a graduate level at UNC Charlotte, such that the analysis can be fed into the development of curricular materials for an Optical Engineering focus in MEES and in the further development of current graduate programs.

Ongoing cross-college graduate research projects and faculty directed instruction provided observational opportunities among a population of graduate students from different backgrounds, at different stages of their projects, and at different points in the continuum of attitudes and capabilities for working in teams. The content from those observations directed the development of structured interview questions which were deployed among students, professors, and industry professionals, in order to investigate the longitudinal development and understanding of the skills necessary for effecively working on multi-disciplinary research teams, a main tennant of successful work within the field of Optical Science and Engineering.

2. Method

For this project we employed a few ethnographic techniques which were particularly well-suited for this relatively small-scale and short-term study: 1) Observations: the ethnographers were in the Optics laboratories and classrooms as work and instruction took place.  They watched what happened, took field notes, and asked questions (the latter only if it was relatively unobtrusive; clarification on unclear actions or interactions were acquired during the interviews). 2) Interviews: structured and unstructured.  About a month into the observations the ethnographers analyzed what data had been gathered. Using that information, structured interview questions were generated.  Consenting researchers, instructors, and students were interviewed and the interview transcripts were coded and analyzed (see below).  Unstructured/less formal interviews took place at opportune moments and the coded content became part of the larger body of data accumulated.

3) Photographic and video data:  work spaces in the Optics lab were photographed over the course of the semester by the ethnographers. This data was also coded.

3. Materials and Procedure

The transcribed interviews and observation notes were read and analyzed for themes that were then put into an outline, a “codebook,” which is fundamentally an organized list of themes that come out of the collected data (see Appendix A). Once those themes were identified, one transcript was test-coded by each researcher, to check for effectiveness. The codebook was refined and revised, and then used to re-code the initial transcript, plus all of the other notes and transcripts. In the end, we have data that has been organized by the priorities of the individuals being interviewed, not of the researchers. The questions were open ended, so in general, if we coded for (for example)“self-directed learning/autodidact,” it was because it was brought up by the interviewee, not because it was injected into the conversation by the interviewer.

4. Analysis

Optical engineering is a multidisciplinary field, including practicioners trained in physics, metrology, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, and optical science. Given these diverse backgrounds, the technical and theoretical knowledge base of each individual is highly variable which adds to the complexity of collaboration within the field. No one person can be counted on to know everything required for a successful project, so collaboration is not just complex, but essential in the field. Practicing optical engineers interviewed by the ethnographers speak to the necessity of group work and the benefits of having individuals from diverse areas which help generate many possible solutions to design problems, increasing the chances of a successful solution that will fit given temporal, physical, and financial limitations.

Non-text/non-verbal communication is another crucial aspect of both collaboration and teaching in engineering and optics, and includes diagrams, equations, models, and the physical manipulation of equipment. Such non-text communication is not only more efficient in some contexts, but can allow for more specific explanations of complicated or technical information. This can be especially useful within groups containing individuals from diverse academic or ethnic backgrounds where visual representations of ideas can prevent information being lost in translation. The ethnographers documented such forms of idea sharing during both their laboratory and classroom observations. The non-text nature of much engineering collaboration affects not only teaching techniques, but also the ways in which engineering ideas are shared on a larger scale. For instance, while blogs or other forms of social media are popular forums for idea sharing among social scientists and humanities scholars, the engineers the ethnographers interviewed prefer face-to-face forms of communication that allow for the ready use of such non-text communication aids.

“When you think about it, for a complex interferometer system or any complex system…you’ve got electrical

components, you’ve got mechanical components, and in some cases you’ve got optical components. There’s no way one person can be an expert in all those areas,

it’s just too much information, so you need to know what’s important for each aspect of it and you need to be able to work with everybody who maybe does not

have the same area of expertise as you. And they have things that they know that you don’t and you need to

be able to work your way through it together.”~ Optics Professional Interviewed #10

Figure 1: Students collaborating to allign a laser during their research in the optics laboritory.

Effective communication of highly technical information across disciplinary and linguistic barriers is an essential part of success in industry and academia. As a practical demonstration of the importance of clear communication during collaboration, a professor had his students pass along a technical design proposal from one student to another, switching the language in which the information was communicated several times during the exercise (English, Mandarin, Persian and Spanish). The students were allowed to ask question to clarify some information, but were not allowed to record any of the information as they listened. Once they passed along the message to the next student they wrote down what they thought they had heard. After the exercise the professor read the communications back to the students, all of whom had a good laugh at how distorted the message became with each iteration:

The professor finished by saying “I can never over emphasize the importance of communication. You have all these great ideas, but you won’t be able to bring them into action if others can’t understand what you mean.”

This exercise illustrates many of the overarching themes uncovered during this study. First it exemplifies hands-on/demonstrative teaching techniques and connecting abstract knowledge to real-world applications. This exercise also emphasizes the importance of collaboration in engineering culture, the need for cross-cultural and multidisciplinary communication expertise for success, and the benefits of non-verbal and non-text based communication techniques. Several students commented in the end that if they were allowed to draw a picture when unable to translate a specific word from one language to another, the resulting communication would have been much more clear.

“I strongly recommend a pencil and a piece of paper. A little calculation can go a long way. An

hour in the library can save you a week in the lab.”~ Optics faculty member

Figure 2: Eliminating unwanted reflections in a double pass test of an uncoated plane parallel window. Sketch by Dr. Chris Evans

The original script: “We have a potential new customer that wants to reduce the height of its current camera by 10%. They are willing to pay $5 a camera in volumes of 100K units a month. They will allow up to 5% worse distortion than their current camera and are willing to discuss other tradeoffs that will allow us to reduce the height. They need a preliminary optical design in two weeks.”

After four students: “A new customer is requesting a camera design with the goal that the camera be smaller than their current model. Cost will be $5 per unit and they need 100k of them. They want the design to reduce the field curvature by 5%. They need the cameras in two weeks.”

The final resulting communiqué: “A customer is requesting a design for 1000 cameras with a price of $5 each. The propagation error from the image plane needs to be less than 5%. The cameras must be ready in 2 weeks.”

5. Results and Discussion

The themes present in the codebook are themselves results, indications of what is important in optical engineering work as described and revealed in the interviews and observations. As a pilot project, however, it is clear that there is more work to be done before significant conclusions can be drawn. We hope to research the following more thoroughly in the future:

● Is there a substantial content difference in the preparation required for students intending careers in industry vs. careers in academia?● What role does gender play in the successful engagement with engineering fields? ● Are there various international cultures of optical science and engineering? How does the local character of training in various countries affect the professional and academic culture of the field as a whole?● How do the academic cultures of physics and engineering interact, and inform the preparation of students for careers in Optical Science? How do those cultures vary from university to university?● From the student’s point-of-view, what is the affect of having professors with experience in industry, vs. having professors with strictly academic backgrounds? How does industry experience shape the way in which professors teach?● Does social media (blogs, social media sites like LinkedIn, twitter, etc.) have a place in optical science and engineering culture as a means for information sharing? If not, what issues prevent this, and is it something that may become more important in the future?

This research has already been presented as a poster at the Optical Fabrication and Testing conference in Monterey, CA, in June 2012 (Lanclos, Ferrara, Davies, Evans, and Suleski 2012). Further plans are to discuss these preliminary results within the Optical Science program, as well as among freshmen in the College of Engineering, to whom messages about the importance of collaborative work are frequently conveyed by Engineering faculty and advisors. In addition, Angela Ferrara, one of the co-authors of the poster, and the graduate student assistant for this project, will be continuing this research as a part of her Anthropology Master’s degree thesis work.

References

D. M. Lanclos, A. M. Ferrara, M. A. Davies, C. J. Evans, and T. J. Suleski, "Collaborative work within Optical Engineering: Ethnography and curricular development," in Optical Fabrication and Testing, OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optical Society of America, 2012), paper JTu5A.1. 

Appendix A: Codebook