Mentored student research: A case study evaluation of benefits and best practices.

Efforts to mentor undergraduates in research require time, energy, and resources but can yield significant benefits. A review of education research on undergraduate research is presented followed by a case study of how technical and educational principles from the literature have been implemented and practiced in a new underwater acoustics lab. This case study involves the students who have joined this lab over its first three years. The results highlight the importance of several key factors that mentors can implement to improve their students' research experience. In order to meet the steep learning curve that new students face, faculty mentors should establish a culture of research (i.e., well established norms, expectations, and practices associated with being a part of a research group) through clear expectations, open communication, and student-led peer mentorship supported by carefully selected or designed resources (i.e., scaffolding). This paper seeks to share these education research resources with the acoustics community while providing a case study for review as a specific application of these key principles into an acoustics laboratory setting.

Sounds to Astound: An acoustics outreach show.

Sounds to Astound is an acoustics demonstration show, produced for the community twice yearly by the Brigham Young University Student Chapter of the Acoustical Society of America. The free, interactive demonstration show explores the science of sound for a target audience of fifth- to eighth-grade students. Introductory acoustics concepts, such as longitudinal wave motion, wave properties, propagation effects, and standing waves, are taught with live demonstrations, animations, and videos. The goal of this paper is to inspire and encourage readers in their outreach efforts by describing the purposes of Sounds to Astound and technical details of several entertaining and educational demonstrations. Lessons learned from a decade of these student-produced shows serve as an aid for future efforts and highlight the benefits of outreach efforts, particularly for the students involved.