A new program to teach nuclear and radiochemistry to undergraduates

Six years ago we started to develop a traditionally-taught course in nuclear and radiochemistry for nuclear engineering juniors. Initial student-opinion surveys indicated that the lecture material was abstract, the homework was difficult, and primarily only the better students were comprehending and benefiting from the course content. As a result, after several offerings, we had to choose between either reducing the intellectual level of the subject matter or increasing the level of comprehension. We chose the latter. To increase the course effectiveness, we developed: (1) a set of illustrations in the 35-mm slide format to make abstract ideas more concrete, (2) 14 50-minute video tutorials to show the students how to work some homework problems and to review lecture material, and (3) a set of typed course notes in a special format to augment an ineffective text. After implementing these features, surveys indicated significant improvements