THE THINGS I LEARNED…

In EDUI6702 I created the outline for a course titled “Introduction to Nuclear Radiation and Health Effects.”  This course educates students about the atom, types of radiation, and where radiation comes from.  I then hope to move into biological effects and nuclear events in history. There is a lot of material here I could cover.  The history portion alone could take up an entire semester.

My hope is that a community college or university might be interested in offering this class to students as an alternative science credit.  I took an Astronomy 101 class last semester, and found that most of the students attended for required science credits, and had no interest in Astronomy. 

The bulleted items below are topics I learned about in this class that could improve my nascent course started in EDUI6701.  I will make an effort to include each of these into the next phase of development.

ü      Use Bobby and other accessibility evaluation criteria to understand accessibility deficiencies in my online classroom.  This is something I need to keep in mind all along the way during development.

ü      Make an impression in the first class.  This will get students interested in the material, and start them off feeling positive about the endeavor they are embarking on.

ü      Establish debate teams to force students to challenge themselves and each other.  Debate issues such as nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, Yucca mountain and other topics of the students choosing.  This can help the students reflect on their current biases about radiation, and help them retain this new knowledge.

ü      Start each lecture with a puzzle, question, paradox or picture.  I think this is a great way for students to look forward to coming to class.  I can use something that helps students pay closer attention to the (sometimes dry material.)

ü      Use Rubrics whenever possible to evaluate students work.  This is an excellent tool.  I bookmarked many websites with ideas and examples on how to implement Rubrics for almost any subject.  I’ve already started on a Rubrics for my debate teams.

ü      Incorporate at least one lab into the syllabus.  For the kinesthetic learners in the class.  The most captivating part of my presentation is usually the audio radiation detector intensity level as I move around the room with some radioactive material.  Another great lab would be to create an animated clip about half-life and have students calculate the half-life and determine what the radioactive material is.

ü      Use pictures to help deliver the message and break-up the reading.  A picture can mean 1,000 words, and help take some of the dryness out of a presentation. Also, students are always fascinated by gruesome slides of accidental radiation exposures.

ü      Have students keep a journal.  This can help the instructor know if their students find the lectures and reading material interesting.  Also regurgitation can really help students retain new knowledge.

ü      Have an evaluation session where students brainstorm ways to improve the course following course completion.  This can help me improve the class each semester.

ü      Be aware of different learning styles during development.  Try to appeal to each of the different learning styles as often as possible during the length of the course.